No, SpaceX Did Not Have an IPO at $135 — SpaceX Has Never Gone Public
“The IPO price for SpaceX shares was $135”
The argument in brief
A claim circulating online states that SpaceX shares were priced at $135 in an IPO. This is false. SpaceX has never conducted an IPO at all — it remains a private company, and the SEC has no registration filing from SpaceX to support a public listing. In fact, private share sales have valued SpaceX stock far higher than $135 for years.
Why it spread
SpaceX is one of the most talked-about companies in the world, and anything tied to Elon Musk attracts intense attention. People genuinely want to invest in SpaceX and fear missing out on a big opportunity. A specific price like $135 sounds credible and concrete, which makes it easy to share without stopping to verify whether an IPO actually happened.
The claim is that SpaceX shares were offered to the public at an IPO price of $135. This is false on two levels: there is no $135 price, and there is no IPO. SpaceX has never gone public.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires any company doing a traditional IPO to file an S-1 registration statement. According to the SEC's own public records, SpaceX has never filed one. Without that filing, no public offering can legally take place.
Private share transactions tell a very different story from the $135 figure. CNBC reported that in February 2021, SpaceX raised $850 million in a private funding round at $419 per share — more than three times the claimed price. Reuters and Bloomberg both reported that by 2023, private tender offers were valuing the company at $150 to $175 billion, with per-share prices well above $135. These are insider and employee transactions, not public ones.
To be fair, there is a kernel of reality here worth addressing: SpaceX does allow employees and select investors to sell shares on private secondary markets. It is possible someone confused a secondary market transaction, an older valuation figure, or a rumored price with an actual IPO. Elon Musk has also floated the idea of eventually spinning off Starlink — SpaceX's satellite internet division — for a public offering. But that has not happened, and it would not be a SpaceX IPO in any case.
This kind of misinformation spreads because a specific dollar figure sounds authoritative. Vague claims are easy to dismiss; a precise number like $135 feels like insider knowledge. If you see a specific IPO price for SpaceX, the fastest check is the SEC's EDGAR database — if there is no S-1 filing, there is no IPO, full stop.
Sources
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
SpaceX has not filed an S-1 registration statement with the SEC, which is required for a traditional IPO. As of the knowledge cutoff, SpaceX remains a privately held company and has not conducted an IPO.
- Reuters
SpaceX has conducted private tender offers and secondary market transactions valuing the company at various levels (e.g., around $150-175 billion in 2023), but these are not public IPO transactions and no public share price of $135 has been established.
- Bloomberg
SpaceX has sold shares in private secondary markets to employees and select investors, but the company has repeatedly stated it has no near-term plans for a public IPO. No official IPO price of $135 per share exists.
- CNBC
In February 2021, SpaceX raised $850 million in a private funding round at $419 per share — not $135 — further demonstrating that no IPO at $135 has occurred and that private share prices have been significantly higher.
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