SpaceX's stock market blast-off could be Musk's biggest gamble yet
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- SpaceX filed for an IPO with bankers targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation, despite the company losing nearly $5bn last year.
- Elon Musk owns 42% of SpaceX but controls 85% of voting rights, holding the combined titles of founder, CEO, CTO, and chairman.
- xAI and AI ventures account for $26.5trn of SpaceX's $28.5trn identified total addressable market, while the established space and communications business is valued at roughly $300bn.
- Trading in SpaceX shares begins June 12, with UK retail investors expected to receive around £1.5bn in share allocations, according to Hargreaves Lansdown's Simon Belsham.
- Starlink — SpaceX's satellite internet network — has demonstrated geopolitical importance by supporting Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion.
- Mechazilla, the launch tower's booster-capture system, caught a returning Super Heavy booster on October 13, 2024 — a first in spaceflight.
- Economist Sinead O'Sullivan called the IPO "an Elon Musk ego project," arguing investors are buying the Musk brand rather than a space company.
Why it matters: A $1.75trn valuation implicitly bets that AI becomes a market comparable to the entire US or European economy and that SpaceX captures a meaningful slice. Most ordinary investors will become SpaceX part-owners through pension funds, exposing retirement savings to a company where one person controls 85% of votes and the bulk of the valuation sits in an unproven AI business.
