Elon Musk becomes world's first trillionaire as SpaceX shares skyrocket on debut

SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket, satellite, and artificial intelligence-linked company, began trading on the stock market on Friday, in a debut that blasted off so successfully that it turned him into the world's first trillionaire.

The stock opened at $150, above its IPO price of $135 per share, and climbed to $166 by about 12.20pm, making it the sixth largest US company by market value.

As the markets closed, SpaceX's stock price was at around $160, giving the company a market value of just over $2.1 trillion at the closing bell.

SpaceX shares surged nearly 20 percent by the closing bell, after rallying as much as 24 percent earlier in the session, as investors piled into what became the world's largest IPO.

The world's richest man, 54, benefitted from the rise in share prices minutes into trading. As the majority shareholder, Musk reportedly owns over 42 percent of SpaceX.

Musk, a South African-born, naturalized US citizen, has a net worth estimated to be between $1.1 trillion and $1.14 trillion, according to Forbes.

His wealth includes his control or stakes in multiple businesses including X, formerly known as Twitter; Tesla, the electric car manufacturer; an AI start-up that has built data centers; a chatbot called Grok; brain implant company Neuralink, and tunneling firm the Boring Company, The New York Times reports.

Musk built the foundation of his fortune by creating two companies, Zip2 and PayPal, which netted him about $200 million at sale.

He used that capital to start SpaceX and invest in Tesla.

The Wall Street Journal reported that his SpaceX stake was valued at around $690 billion at the IPO price, while his Tesla stake was accounted for approximately $279 billion of his net worth.

SpaceX sold more than 555 million shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol SPCX.

Both retail and institutional investors rushed to buy shares, with demand closely watched as it marked the first generation of large listings for upcoming IPOs from AI heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI, Reuters reported.

SpaceX is now considered to be one of ⁠the world's most valuable companies - even though it posted losses of nearly $5 billion in 2025, a sharp reversal from a $791 million profit in 2024, driven by increased expenditure on AI, according to the company.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen rang the Nasdaq opening bell at 9:30 am ET, while Musk marked the occasion with a ceremonial bell ringing from Starbase, the company's South Texas base.

The company raised $75 billion in proceeds, surpassing the previous record IPO from oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019.

If underwriters exercise their right to sell additional shares, the valuation could rise further, a decision that will be made within 30 days of the offering.

The company's filings show that Musk is restricted from selling some of his SpaceX shares until the company fulfills specific milestones.

SpaceX aims to be the first company to send people to Mars.

Established in 2002, the company has made massive strides in the space industry.

Its products include Starlink, a satellite internet accessible to airlines and rural communities worldwide.

In a video conference call shown on X, Musk told JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon that people had urged him for a decade to take SpaceX public.

He said he chose to do so now because the company plans to put 100,000 next-generation Starlink satellites into orbit.

He added that his push to put AI data centers in space was a "massive new growth base" requiring significant capital.

The fact that the company is public will allow it to gain access to capital that SpaceX needs, the AP reported.

However, going public will also expose SpaceX to more scrutiny from shareholders over its regulatory practices, and require the company to file quarterly financial reports.

Securities regulators are seeking public comment on whether public companies should be required to file financial reports twice a year rather than quarterly.

Despite the listing, Musk retains enough shares to maintain control over key decisions at the company.

His ownership of special "Class B" shares means that he cannot be removed from the company and can only be ousted if he chooses to step down himself.