Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised $75bn (£56bn) from investors ahead of its stock market debut on Friday, in what is set to be the most valuable public listing in history – but analysts warn the company may be dramatically overvalued.
The space exploration, satellite broadband and AI company priced its shares at $135 each, giving it an expected initial market capitalisation of nearly $1.8tn. At that valuation, Musk – already the world’s richest person – will become the first trillionaire.
“SpaceX raises $75bn in record IPO, making Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire, despite overvaluation fears.”
The offering has been oversubscribed three or four times, with more than $250bn in bids from investment funds and retail investors, according to Reuters. The $75bn share sale is nearly three times the previous record set by Saudi Aramco’s $29.4bn float in 2019.
Yet the investment research group Morningstar has calculated that SpaceX is worth only $63 a share – less than half the IPO price. Michael Field, the chief equity strategist at Morningstar, warned of “a major disconnect between market expectations and underlying fundamentals”.
“We believe the business has real strengths, particularly in Starlink, but with so many unknown and untested technologies underpinning much of the valuation price, particularly within the AI business, we think the valuation is extremely speculative,” Field said.
SpaceX, which made a net loss of $4.9bn in 2025, is now valued at roughly 92 times its trailing sales – a hefty premium that implies investors are betting Musk can achieve his most ambitious goals: orbital datacentres, a moon base, cities on other planets, and “extend the light of consciousness to the stars”.
Tom Mueller, SpaceX’s first official employee and now founder of Impulse Space, recalled the company’s early struggles – its first rocket engine exploding, rockets crashing – before it finally reached orbit in 2008. “It’s just been an incredible ride,” he told the BBC.
Despite the public listing, Musk will maintain almost total control. Through his combined holding of different share classes, he will hold roughly 40% of SpaceX’s total equity but more than 84% voting power.
The IPO has also drawn political scrutiny. US senator Elizabeth Warren called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to delay the listing, citing concerns about corporate governance and investor protection.
Certain analysts have set target prices above SpaceX’s $135 estimate. The global brokerage Oppenheimer said on Thursday it expects the shares to hit $190. But Morningstar’s Field advised investors to sit out the IPO and wait for “a more attractive entry point down the line”.
How the shares trade when markets open on Friday will ultimately depend on supply and demand. If they hold at or above $135, SpaceX will instantly become one of the world’s most valuable public companies – and Elon Musk will be a trillionaire.