Elon Musk’s SpaceX locks in $135 IPO price, defying wall street norms

NEW YORK: SpaceX is putting a rocket under the IPO market, and in the process rewriting one of Wall Street’s oldest playbooks.

The company has fixed the price of its initial public offering at $135 per share a full week before the listing process is due to conclude, bypassing a key stage where investment banks typically gauge investor demand before settling on a final valuation.

The move marks a striking departure from conventional IPO practice and underlines the confidence of founder Elon Musk as the company prepares for what is expected to be the largest stock market debut in history.

At the fixed price, SpaceX is targeting a valuation of around $1.75 trillion and plans to raise approximately $75 billion in fresh capital. Including the greenshoe option, total proceeds could reach as much as $86 billion, according to regulatory filings.

The company is scheduled to begin its investor roadshow on Thursday, with final pricing expected on 11 June. Shares are set to start trading on the Nasdaq the following day.

Nothing about this IPO follows the traditional script. Musk has already signalled plans to give retail investors a significantly larger allocation than is customary and has pushed for faster inclusion in major stock market indices. The company has also structured its governance to ensure strong founder control after listing.

That approach appears to be resonating with investors despite concerns over valuation. Demand for allocations has reportedly been intense, with major financial institutions competing for a place in the deal.

Part of the challenge lies in valuing a company that sits across multiple industries. Unlike traditional aerospace firms, SpaceX has operations spanning launch services, satellite communications, defence technology and increasingly artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company reported a net loss of $4.94 billion in 2025, although revenue climbed 33 per cent year-on-year to $18.67 billion.

The roadshow itself is also taking on a different role. Traditionally, companies use these investor meetings to test appetite and fine-tune pricing. In SpaceX’s case, the valuation target has already been laid out, turning the roadshow into more of a sales exercise than a price-discovery process.

Investor discussions ahead of the offering reportedly revealed a gap between SpaceX’s desired valuation of $1.75 trillion and some investors’ estimates closer to $1.5 trillion. Nevertheless, enthusiasm for the deal has remained strong.

The IPO also reinforces Musk’s grip on the company. Special voting shares are expected to leave him with roughly 82 per cent of voting power, giving him overwhelming influence over strategic and operational decisions after the listing.

That governance structure has raised concerns among some institutional investors and pension funds, which argue that concentrated control can limit shareholder accountability. Yet those concerns have done little to cool demand.

Adding another twist, SpaceX is expected to reserve as much as 30 per cent of the offering for retail investors, an unusually high allocation for a transaction of this size. Bankers involved in the deal are also said to be targeting wealthy individual investors across global markets rather than relying primarily on large asset managers and hedge funds.

For many investors, the IPO represents more than a bet on rockets and satellites. It is increasingly viewed as a wager on Musk’s broader vision, encompassing space infrastructure, AI-powered computing networks and the long-term ambition of interplanetary travel.

As the roadshow gets underway, the listing is shaping up as more than a fundraising exercise. It is becoming a test of how much faith investors are willing to place in founder-led companies, ambitious narratives and a valuation that is already reaching for the stars.