Image: SpaceX
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has reportedly taken the first formal step toward the largest initial public offering in history by filing confidential paperwork to go public.
According to the Financial Times, sources familiar with the matter say the Texas-based aerospace giant filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week.
By filing confidentially, SpaceX can advance its listing plans without immediately revealing its internal financial data to the public. This massive move follows the company’s recent $250 billion acquisition of Musk’s AI startup, xAI.
People familiar with the deal told the Financial Times that SpaceX is looking to raise approximately $75 billion, targeting a staggering valuation of $1.75 trillion. To put that in perspective, a valuation at that level would place SpaceX in an elite group of American companies, trailing only tech titans like Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon. The company’s growth has been explosive, considering it was valued at around $90 billion just four years ago.
The IPO is expected to take place sometime in June. Sources close to the situation noted that Musk is aiming for the debut to coincide with both a rare planetary alignment and his 55th birthday. If successful, the listing would easily dwarf the $29 billion raised by Saudi Aramco in 2019, which currently holds the record for the largest IPO ever.
The timing of the filing also aligns with major rule changes at the Nasdaq stock exchange. The exchange recently removed a requirement that at least 10 per cent of a company’s shares must be available to the public to join the Nasdaq 100 index. Since SpaceX only plans to float less than 5 per cent of its equity, this rule change is crucial for its inclusion in major exchange-traded funds.
Additionally, people close to the deal mentioned that SpaceX is considering allowing existing shareholders to sell their stakes on the very first day of trading. This would bypass the standard 180-day lock-up period that usually prevents insiders from cashing out immediately after a company goes public.
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