NEW YORK — In a move that could set the stage for the largest initial public offering in history, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has reportedly taken the first steps toward going public. Sources with knowledge of the situation revealed that preliminary documents have been filed, a development that might propel Musk to become the world’s first trillionaire.
The anticipated SpaceX IPO is poised to be a major event on Wall Street, attracting a lineup of investment banks eager to assist in raising potentially tens of billions of dollars. These funds would support Musk’s lofty ambitions, including establishing a lunar base, launching massive orbital data centers, and possibly venturing to Mars in the future.
These insights were shared by sources who requested anonymity due to the confidential nature of the registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
SpaceX has yet to provide a comment regarding these developments.
While the exact amount SpaceX intends to raise remains under wraps, reports suggest it could reach as high as $75 billion. If realized, this would far surpass the $29 billion raised by Saudi Aramco during its 2019 IPO.
Projected to occur possibly by June, the IPO could value SpaceX at $1.5 trillion. This valuation would be nearly double what the company was estimated to be worth in December, following an acquisition that expanded its scope, according to data from the research firm Pitchbook.
Musk owns 42% of SpaceX now, according to Pitchbook, though that figure will change with the IPO when new owners are issued shares. In any case, he is likely to pierce the trillion-dollar mark because he is already close, with a net worth estimated by Forbes magazine at $823 million.
In addition to making reusable rockets to hurl astronauts and hardware into orbit, SpaceX owns Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company. The company also recently brought under its roof two other Musk businesses, social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and artificial intelligence business, xAI, in a controversial transaction because both the seller and the buyer were controlled by him.
SpaceX has become the biggest commercial launch company in its industry, responsible for sending payloads into orbit for customers across the globe, but has also benefited from big taxpayer spending. That has raised conflicts of interest issues given that Musk was the biggest donor to President Donald Trump’s campaign and is still a big backer.
In the past five years, SpaceX won $6 billion in contracts from NASA, the Defense Department and other U.S. government agencies, according to USAspending.gov.
Among current SpaceX owners is Donald Trump Jr, the president’s oldest son. He owns shares through 1789 Capital. That venture capital firm made him a partner shortly after his father won the presidency for a second time and has been buying up federal contractors seeking to win taxpayer money ever since.
The White House and Trump himself have repeatedly denied there are any conflicts of interest between his role as president and his family’s businesses.
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