SpaceX Files for IPO That Could Raise 75 Billion Dollars

SpaceX filed its long-awaited IPO prospectus this week, setting the stage for what would be the largest public offering in history. The company did not disclose how much it plans to raise in the filing, but according to CNBC, SpaceX is reportedly aiming to bring in around $75 billion when it debuts on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SPCX.

That figure would dwarf every previous U.S. IPO on record. The current title holder is Alibaba, which raised $21.8 billion when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. SpaceX's target would be more than triple that amount. The next largest deals behind Alibaba were Visa, which raised $17.8 billion in 2008, Enel SpA's $16.5 billion offering in 1999, and Facebook's $16 billion debut in 2012.

The sheer scale of the expected offering has drawn attention well beyond traditional Wall Street channels. According to MarketWatch, a fast-growing offshore crypto platform is already giving investors around the world an opportunity to trade what is expected to be the biggest IPO in history before it even happens, bypassing Wall Street entirely in the process.

Investors are watching the SpaceX debut closely for reasons that go beyond the company itself. The IPO market has been largely quiet since late 2021, when soaring inflation and rising interest rates pushed investors away from risk assets. The artificial intelligence boom that followed lifted companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to enormous private valuations, but both remain outside the public market. OpenAI could file confidentially as soon as this week, CNBC reported.

The most recent major tech debut was Cerebras, which listed on Nasdaq last week in what was described as the biggest tech offering since Uber's IPO in 2019. Still, major companies including Databricks and Stripe have continued to stay private, drawn by what CNBC described as seemingly endless private funding opportunities.

The Alibaba comparison carries some caution along with the record-setting context. More than a decade after its IPO, Alibaba's stock has lost well over half its value since peaking in October 2020. The company has since slashed about a third of its workforce and sold off some retail operations, while shifting its focus toward semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

Visa's 2008 debut, by contrast, was a rare bright spot during the financial crisis. The payments company's stock jumped as much as 38% out of the gate when it went public, even as the housing collapse was bleeding into the broader economy. Visa shares reached a closing high of $373.31 in June and were trading at around $330 as of the time of CNBC's report.

SpaceX's filing gives the IPO market a jolt of energy it has not seen in years. Whether the company prices at or near the $75 billion target will be one of the more closely watched events on Wall Street in some time. No pricing date has been announced.