SpaceX IPO – SpaceX’s first public trading day on Nasdaq on June 12 minted a new set of millionaires and briefly pushed Elon Musk into trillionaire territory on paper as the stock surged at launch.
The moment SpaceX started trading on Nasdaq on June 12, it wasn’t just a milestone for the company—it was a personal turning point for Elon Musk. In his speech at the public IPO launch, Musk said he thought SpaceX would fail.
By the time the market opened, the opposite had happened. SpaceX priced 555.6 million shares at $135 apiece, setting the stage for what became the largest initial public offering in history. When investors lined up to buy under the ticker symbol SPCX, the stock price surged, opening trading at $150.
Shares kept climbing after the bell. They rallied further and were last up 26.48% at $170.75 at 1:36 pm ET.
With that surge in the company’s shares, Musk became the first-ever trillionaire on paper. For longtime watchers, the speed of the market reaction was the dramatic part—one trading session, one pricing decision, and suddenly his net worth calculation moved beyond the symbolic threshold.
About 4. 400 current and former SpaceX employees are expected to have been carried along in the jump because they held company stock or options before the IPO. according to an analysis by Hill.com. a San Francisco-based investment platform. cited in a report by the New York Times. Of those, about 400 are expected to earn $100 million or more.
For people who bought in at the IPO. the story carries a different kind of promise: the chance to ride a rare listing. Richard Hickman. managing director at HarbourVest Global Private Equity. said in an email that SpaceX is “a good example of how retail investors can gain access to innovative. cutting-edge private companies through a listed investment trust structure.”.
Still, not everyone is looking at the same timetable. Jay Woods. chief strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. warned that quick money is often where the risk hides after big debuts. “What we’ve seen with many high-profile IPOs is an initial surge in price followed by a period where investors give some of those gains back. I think that’s the most likely scenario here as well,” he said. He added that better opportunities may arrive later. recommending investors wait “a few weeks—or even a few months—and ideally at least one earnings cycle before considering a larger position.”.
For long-horizon investors, the pitch is more patient. John Belton. portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds. described SpaceX as “the ultimate growth stock. ” saying it has “significant growth potential ahead of it.” He said it would likely take time for the share price to find its footing in public markets. but argued there are “a lot of exciting opportunities ahead.”.
Taken together. the day’s facts form a stark contrast: Musk’s own belief that SpaceX might fail—then the IPO’s pricing at $135. the stock opening at $150 under the SPCX ticker. and the shares reaching $170.75 by 1:36 pm ET. The same window that put him into trillionaire territory on paper also turned a pre-IPO employee base into a potential windfall—while advisers split over whether the run-up is a launch pad or a selling point.
SpaceX Elon Musk IPO Nasdaq SPCX trillionaire on paper IPO pricing investment advisers retail investors millionaires