SpaceX surpasses $2 trillion valuation in blockbuster stock market debut, making Elon Musk the first trillionaire

NEW YORK — SpaceX surged more than 20 percent in its Nasdaq debut on Friday, pushing the aerospace and technology company’s valuation above $2 trillion and cementing one of the largest and most closely watched public offerings in financial market history.

Shares of Elon Musk’s company opened at $150, above the initial public offering price of $135, before climbing to around $164 in early trading. The rally briefly elevated SpaceX into the ranks of the six most valuable publicly traded companies in the United States.

The market debut marks a major milestone for Musk’s business empire and is being closely watched as a potential indicator of investor appetite for a new wave of large technology listings, including anticipated offerings from artificial intelligence firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

At approximately $75 billion in proceeds, the offering surpassed the size of Saudi Aramco’s record-setting 2019 initial public offering, making it the largest IPO on record.

The strong debut highlighted continued investor confidence in SpaceX’s long-term growth prospects despite questions about its current financial valuation.

The company reported revenue of approximately $18.7 billion in 2025 but posted a net loss of nearly $5 billion last year. Even so, investors have continued to back the firm’s ambitious plans in commercial spaceflight, satellite internet services, artificial intelligence, and future space-based industries.

SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk reflected on the company’s early challenges before trading began.

“I gave SpaceX a 10% chance of succeeding at all,” Musk said in Texas ahead of the market opening.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen rang the Nasdaq opening bell as the company officially entered public markets.

Analysts say the company’s valuation reflects more than its current financial performance. Instead, many investors appear to be placing a premium on Musk’s track record of building transformative companies.

The phenomenon, often described by market observers as the “Musk premium,” has also been associated with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, whose market value has frequently exceeded that of traditional automotive competitors.

Joel Shulman, chief executive officer of ERShares, whose investment fund holds exposure to SpaceX, said Musk belongs to a rare category of entrepreneurs.

“We have to go back 100 years to get comparable entrepreneurs. He’s a visionary unlike others, and he executes extremely well,” Shulman told Reuters.

Some investors compare SpaceX’s growth story to Amazon’s early years, arguing that traditional valuation metrics may not fully capture the company’s future opportunities.

Nancy Tengler, chief executive and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments, said investors are focused on long-term transformation rather than near-term earnings.

“This is not a name you’re buying based on fundamentals,” Tengler said. “For me, the analogy is Amazon. This was a company that changed the way we live.”

Founded in 2002, SpaceX has become the dominant force in commercial space launches through its Falcon rocket family and its reusable launch technology, significantly reducing the cost of sending payloads into orbit.

The company also operates Starlink, the world’s largest satellite internet constellation, providing broadband services to consumers, businesses, governments, and remote communities around the globe.

According to company statements, SpaceX has been responsible for more than four-fifths of the total mass launched into orbit worldwide over the past three years.

Executives estimate the company’s total addressable market at $28.5 trillion, citing opportunities in telecommunications, artificial intelligence, space transportation, and future off-Earth industries.

John Belton, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, said SpaceX combines a mature business with a potentially transformative long-term vision.

“For Tesla, that’s things like humanoid robotics and other future applications. For SpaceX, it’s the AI business,” Belton said.

Despite the enthusiasm, some analysts caution that SpaceX’s market value may be difficult to justify using conventional financial measures.

Based on its reported revenue, the company is trading at a price-to-revenue ratio of roughly 94, substantially higher than most established technology firms.

Analysts at Morningstar recently estimated that SpaceX’s fair value could be closer to $780 billion, far below its current market capitalization.

Competition also continues to intensify. Rivals including Blue Origin, founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, are expanding their launch capabilities and seeking a larger share of government and commercial space contracts.

Market participants expect SpaceX to be added relatively quickly to the Nasdaq 100 Index under updated fast-track inclusion rules, potentially within a month. Inclusion would make the company a significant holding for exchange-traded funds and index funds that track the benchmark.

Some analysts believe the addition could trigger portfolio adjustments across the technology sector as institutional investors reallocate capital toward the newly listed company.

The success of the IPO is also expected to influence the broader market for public offerings. Investment bankers and analysts view the listing as a critical test case for investor demand ahead of several anticipated technology and artificial intelligence IPOs.

For now, SpaceX’s blockbuster debut signals that investors remain willing to pay premium valuations for companies perceived to be shaping the future of technology, even as questions persist about profitability and long-term financial fundamentals.