SpaceX prices IPO at $135 per share, $1.75tn valuation sets record
▼ Summary
– SpaceX plans to fix its IPO price at $135 per share before the roadshow, targeting a record $75bn raise and a $1.75tn valuation.
– The fixed price removes the typical negotiation process with investors, signaling that terms are non-negotiable.
– Proceeds from the IPO will fund AI computing resources and the Starlink satellite network, as SpaceX pitches itself as an AI-infrastructure company.
– Up to 30% of the offering is reserved for retail investors, a high allocation that hedges against institutional demand.
– A Danish pension fund has blacklisted the listing due to governance concerns, including founder control and a stretched valuation.
SpaceX is flipping the traditional IPO playbook on its head. Instead of setting a preliminary price range and letting institutional investors haggle it down during a roadshow, the company has chosen to fix its IPO price at $135 per share before the marketing tour even begins, according to a source familiar with the plans. The move targets a historic $75 billion capital raise.
The strategy is deliberately unconventional. By locking in the price ahead of bookbuilding, SpaceX removes the typical negotiation process where investors push for a lower valuation. The message is clear: these are the terms, take them or leave them.
With approximately 555.6 million shares outstanding at that price, the offering would be the largest ever, implying a staggering $1.75 trillion valuation. SpaceX expects to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, with trading slated to begin on June 12.
This isn’t SpaceX’s first step toward public markets, and TNW readers have followed the journey closely. The company filed its S-1 registration earlier this year, setting the stage for what would become the biggest listing in history. The prospectus confirmed that Elon Musk and insiders would retain dominant voting power through a dual-class share structure. Now, with the fixed price, SpaceX is doubling down: having filed on its own terms, it intends to price on them too.
Defending that $1.75 trillion valuation requires looking beyond rockets. SpaceX is no longer just a launch provider. Its February acquisition of xAI folded Musk’s artificial intelligence startup into the satellite and space business, rebranding the combined entity as an AI-infrastructure play as much as a space company. Proceeds from the IPO are earmarked partly for expanding AI computing resources alongside the Starlink satellite network. The roadshow, when it happens, will sell two narratives at once.
The retail component adds to the spectacle. SpaceX is reportedly reserving up to 30% of the offering for individual investors, a far cry from the single-digit allocations typical for deals of this magnitude. That serves dual purposes: it rewards a devoted retail following, and it hedges against institutional skepticism. A price fixed before bookbuilding needs broad demand, not just a handful of big funds setting the clearing level.
Not everyone is buying in. A Danish pension fund has already blacklisted the listing, citing governance concerns over the concentrated voting control and a valuation it considers excessive. That objection cuts to the heart of the deal. Investors buying SPCX are purchasing shares with limited influence in a company controlled by a founder whose attention spans rockets, satellites, AI, social media, and electric cars.
The bullish case echoes what has always been true of Musk: rules bend around businesses that achieve what competitors cannot. SpaceX launches more mass to orbit than every other operator combined. Starlink has millions of subscribers. And the xAI tie-up gives the story an AI dimension at the precise moment markets are paying the most for one.
The bearish case is simpler. Fixing a price before the roadshow assumes a level of demand that roadshows exist to test. If the book fills, SpaceX will have rewritten how mega-IPOs are priced. If it does not, there is no range to retreat to.
(Source: The Next Web)
