SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI Exits Eclipse 25 Years of VC IPOs
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- NCVA-Pitchbook Venture Monitor reported that combined SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI exits will generate more value than all U.S. VC-backed exits since 2000.
- SpaceX has already gone public at a $1.77 trillion valuation, with Anthropic and OpenAI pushing into the trillions and the trio likely landing north of $4 trillion combined.
- By comparison, the SEC counted just $70 billion in US-based IPO proceeds last year.
- The 25-year period captured major IPOs from Google (2004), Tesla (2010), and Meta (2012), plus acquisitions of LinkedIn, Slack, and WhatsApp for more than $20 billion each.
- Uber's $84 billion 2019 IPO — once seen as massive — is less than 5% of what SpaceX just raised.
- The article notes the comparison excludes non-U.S. companies like Alibaba and measures "value created" rather than liquid cash, and that the iPhone, Android, YouTube, and Instagram all launched at already-public companies.
- Two factors drive the scale: companies staying private longer, and capital-intensive AI training inflating valuations — with the article stating the size is "already pushing the financial infrastructure to its limit."
Why it matters: The article flags that the scale is "already pushing the financial infrastructure to its limit" — a single season's ~$4 trillion in exit value dwarfs the SEC's $70 billion in US IPO proceeds for all of last year, and even Uber's once-headline-grabbing $84 billion 2019 IPO now looks small at under 5% of SpaceX's raise alone.
