Elon Musk Set to Become the World’s First Trillionaire as SpaceX Launches Historic IPO
US tech pioneer Elon Musk is certainly a polarizing figure. But he could soon become the world’s first trillionaire. This afternoon, Musk plans to take his space company SpaceX public. SpaceX aims to raise up to $86 billion (around €74 billion) – which would be by far the largest IPO in history.

Things will get exciting from 3:30 pm German time.

The schedule to be listed today at the German Time 3:30 P.M. That time Trading will be open.

What’s special about this is that, for the first time, German retail investors have the opportunity to participate in such a large IPO. Several brokers are offering their clients the option to place buy orders in advance. However, whether they will be successful in doing so remains to be seen.

The shares are to be issued at a price of $135 each (approximately €117). According to insiders, 555.6 million shares will be offered. Due to high demand, issuing banks have the option to purchase additional securities. However, Musk will retain control of SpaceX even after the IPO, holding 82 percent of the shares. Thirty percent of the shares have been reserved for retail investors.

SpaceX between innovation and losses

SpaceX has secured lucrative contracts with NASA for its launch vehicles. Founded in 2002, the company dominates the rocket launch market and, according to its own figures, has delivered more than 80 percent of the world’s payload into Earth orbit over the past three years. This fuels the hopes of many investors who anticipate substantial future profits. SpaceX management expects the rocket to be able to conduct commercial flights after all tests are completed in the second half of the year.

The company currently generates the majority of its revenue from its satellite internet service, Starlink. This business is growing rapidly. A few months ago, Musk also had SpaceX acquire his AI company, xAI, which had previously incorporated the online platform X.

However, due to its billions of dollars in investments in artificial intelligence, SpaceX recently posted losses. Last year, the company incurred losses of approximately $4.94 billion on revenues of $18.67 billion (just over €16 billion).

Total valuation of nearly $1.8 million

Nevertheless, there has been a huge hype surrounding the planned stock market debut in recent days. However, there are also critical voices. The valuation, in particular, is met with skepticism by some analysts. Based on the issue price and the number of shares, SpaceX arrives at a total valuation of $1.77 trillion – a record for an initial public offering. The space company would thus be worth more than Facebook’s parent company, Meta, right out of the gate.