SpaceX IPO Expected to Debut with $1.77 Trillion Valuation, Potentially Making Elon Musk World's First Trillionaire
SpaceX debuted on the Nasdaq on Friday at $135 per share, raising $75 billion in the largest IPO in history, and shares surged roughly 19% on the first day to push the company's market cap above $2.1 trillion. Combined with his Tesla stake, Musk's net worth crossed $1.1 trillion, making him the first individual in history to reach that threshold. The milestone has ignited global debate over wealth inequality, taxation, government subsidies, and the concentration of political and economic power in a single person's hands.
SpaceX priced its initial public offering at $135 per share on Thursday, June 12, 2026, valuing the rocket, satellite, and AI company at approximately $1.77 trillion. When shares began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, they opened at $150 and climbed to around $170 by day's end, pushing the company's market capitalization above $2.1 trillion and making it the sixth-largest U.S. company by market cap, behind Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon. Musk, who holds roughly a 42% stake in SpaceX worth approximately $866 billion at IPO price, plus a 12% stake in Tesla, saw his combined net worth exceed $1.1 trillion, a figure that dwarfs the next-richest person, Google co-founder Larry Page, by more than $700 billion. The IPO was heavily oversubscribed, with orders exceeding available shares by more than three times, and retail investors alone ordered more than $100 billion in shares. SpaceX reported a net loss of $4.9 billion on $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025, with only its Starlink connectivity segment profitable at $4.4 billion; critics and analysts note the $2 trillion-plus valuation — more than 90 times revenue — rests heavily on unproven future bets including orbital AI data centers and a fully reusable Starship. The milestone has drawn sharp reactions ranging from celebration of technological achievement to condemnation from inequality advocates, progressive politicians, and NGOs such as Oxfam, who argue Musk's fortune was built substantially on government contracts, subsidies, and favorable tax treatment while he simultaneously dismantled public programs through DOGE.
Data: Statista
What's missing
Sources do not clearly specify what percentage of Musk's SpaceX shares are subject to lock-up periods post-IPO, which would affect how quickly or at what price he could liquidate holdings.
How coverage differed
Left-leaning outlets (The Verge, The Nation, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, Gizmodo) framed Musk's trillionaire status primarily through the lens of harm — emphasizing DOGE-related deaths, tax avoidance, government subsidy dependence, and democratic threats — while right-leaning and center outlets (Reason, Forbes, CNBC, BBC, Newsweek) focused more on the historic financial and technological achievement, with Reason explicitly defending the wealth accumulation as economically beneficial and non-zero-sum.
What different sources said
- Times of IndiaCenter
SpaceX IPO: Could Elon Musk become world's first trillionaire? Decoding the math
- Yahoo FinanceCenter
SpaceX to make historic IPO that could make Musk a trillionaire
- CNBCCenter
SpaceX to close above $2 trillion market cap on its debut, prediction market traders say
- OxfamCenter
Soon-to-be trillionaire Elon Musk's wealth grew by over $1 million per minute in the last year
- CBS NewsCenter
SpaceX set to go public, could make Elon Musk a trillionaire
- ForbesCenter
Inside The Over 100-Year Race To The World’s First $1 Trillion Man
- NewsweekCenter
The 4 Dimensions of Elon Musk's $1 Trillion Fortune
- FortuneCenter
Elon’s wealth: 1 trillion dollar bills would stretch 97 million miles, to the moon and back over 200x
- ReasonRight
Elon Musk Becomes the World's First Trillionaire. Is That Such a Bad Thing?
- New York PostRight
Elon Musk just became world’s first trillionaire— how much is a trillion dollars really?
- ABC AustraliaCenter
Elon Musk is the world's first trillionaire. Here's what that looks like
- The RegisterCenter
Elon Musk is now worth more than $1,000,000,000,000
- South China Morning PostCenter
Elon Musk is now the world’s first trillionaire – what could he buy with all that money?
- Common DreamsCenter
'Trillionaires Shouldn't Exist': Obscene Musk Milestone Spurs Calls for Aggressive Wealth Tax
- The Guardian USLeft
Elon Musk is a trillionaire now. Is that bad for the economy? – Stateside with Kai and Carter
- BBC Top StoriesCenter
Elon Musk's stratospheric rise to trillionaire status - in charts
- The Straits TimesCenter
Musk is the world’s first trillionaire. Who was the first billionaire?
- NDTVCenter
From Homes To Fuel: What Elon Musk's $1 Trillion Can Actually Buy
A Trillionaire?
- BBCCenter
Elon Musk's stratospheric rise to trillionaire status - in charts
- The VergeLeft
The world’s first trillionaire is a killer
- Business InsiderLeft
Zohran Mamdani has thoughts on Elon Musk becoming the world's first trillionaire
- GizmodoCenter
Here’s How Much More Money Elon Musk Has Than Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, and You
- 24/7 Wall St.Center
Prediction: Elon Musk Will Target 2 Trillion-Dollar Acquisitions After the SpaceX IPO
- Scientific AmericanCenter
SpaceX IPO valuation depends on Starship and orbital AI data centers
- The NationFar Left
What Elon Musk's Trillion-Dollar Payday Is Costing the Rest of Us
- Rolling StoneLeft
Elon Musk’s a Trillionaire. Here Are Other Shocking Numbers Defining His Legacy
- Mother JonesLeft
Why No Human Being Should Ever Be Allowed to Have a Trillion Dollars
- Yahoo FinanceCenter
Polymarket Traders Crowd Into Bets SpaceX Shares Will Pop Friday
Related
SpaceX IPO Makes Elon Musk World's First Trillionaire as Shares Surge 19% on Debut
SpaceX shares closed up 19% on their first trading day, pushing Elon Musk's net worth to approximately $1.11 trillion and making him the first individual in history to cross the trillion-dollar threshold. The company raised $75 billion at an IPO price of $135 per share, with shares closing near $161, giving SpaceX a market capitalization of roughly $2.1 trillion despite the company reporting a net loss of $4.94 billion in 2025. The milestone has drawn both investor enthusiasm and sharp criticism over Musk's social media conduct and concerns that the IPO's structure exploits passive index fund mechanics to extract wealth from ordinary retirement savers.
Delhi Power Bills to Rise for Some Consumers as Regulator Approves Higher Electricity Surcharge
Delhi's electricity regulator DERC has approved increased Power Purchase Adjustment Charges (PPAC) for distribution companies, raising bills for consumers in south, east, and central Delhi from July 2026. The hike follows a sharp rise in power procurement costs in April 2026, driven by higher summer demand and elevated fuel prices. The change also marks a structural shift from quarterly to monthly PPAC revisions, making electricity bills more responsive to real-time cost fluctuations.
SEC Proposes Repealing Rule 611 and Rule 610(e) of Regulation NMS
The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed on June 11, 2026, to rescind Rule 611 and Rule 610(e) of Regulation NMS, which govern trade-through protections and locking/crossing quotations in equity markets. Rule 611, in place for roughly two decades, requires trades to be executed at the best available price across exchanges. The proposal could reshape equity market structure and has implications for emerging areas such as tokenized stocks.