SpaceX Listing Turns Musk Into the Real Product

SpaceX completed what the article calls the biggest and most talked-about FOMO-driven offering in history, with Elon Musk at the center rather than the company’s current technology or finances. The piece argues that no conventional valuation model can neatly explain SpaceX’s price because investors are really betting on Musk, not just rockets, satellites, or earnings.

Musk priced the offering himself, instead of letting underwriters set it from demand, and persuaded Nasdaq and Russell to loosen their listing requirements. He also opened the deal unusually widely to retail investors, allowing purchases as small as $2,000 on platforms such as Robinhood, Schwab, and Fidelity. Although 30% of shares were set aside for the public, about 20% of the IPO ultimately went to retail buyers. Musk also kept control through more than 80% of the voting power and the right to choose most directors, effectively preserving private-company control.

SpaceX raised $75 billion at a $1.7 trillion valuation, despite having accumulated a $41.3 billion lifetime deficit and losing nearly $5 billion in 2025. Shares opened Friday evening at $150, climbed about 30% to $176, and closed at $161, up 19% from the offer price. About 500 million shares changed hands on day one. At that level, SpaceX was valued at $2.1 trillion, making it one of the world’s 10 biggest companies, in seventh place. Tesla, by comparison, ranked tenth.

Musk’s SpaceX stake is now worth about $800 billion, and his Tesla holding about $280 billion, putting his net worth near $1.1 trillion. The article says that makes him richer than the next five billionaires combined and worth more than the GDP of Taiwan, Ireland, or Sweden. It also notes that the hype could fade, with the next test coming in second-quarter results and possible selling pressure after shortened lockup terms. The loosened rules may also encourage attention to upcoming mega-IPOs from Anthropic and OpenAI.