Wall Street Liftoff: SpaceX IPO Rockets to Historic Heights
“I am filled with optimism at the fact that the world’s first trillionaire was made not by hedge funds or market manipulation, but by building the infrastructure to take America to the stars.”
While Wall Street has long rewarded companies that promise to reach for the stars (at least figuratively), this Friday SpaceX (SPCX) actually delivered — shares opening at $150 and closing up nearly 19% at around $161, capping what Reuters confirmed as the largest Initial Public Offering (IPO) in history at $75 billion and a valuation north of $1.77 trillion.
This development also aligned with other positive economic news.
The company, which aims to put AI data centers in space, priced its shares at $135 each, raising about $75 billion and giving it an anticipated market capitalization of $1.77 trillion. On paper, CEO Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire.
Meanwhile, US stocks rose modestly as investors assessed reports that the US and Iran are closing in on an interim peace deal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose 0.7%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.3% following a surge in Wall Street stocks on Thursday as President Trump called off threatened strikes on Iranian targets.
…Also on Friday, the University of Michigan reported that US consumer sentiment rebounded from an all-time low reading of 44.8 in May to 48.9 at the start of June. One-year inflation expectations of 4.6% also came in below estimates.
SpaceX soared Friday in its blockbuster stock market debut, with shares gaining 19% after Wall Street's biggest-ever IPO.
The rocket and AI company, which Elon Musk founded in 2002, is now valued at over $2 trillion, joining Musk's Tesla as one of the world's top-ten most… pic.twitter.com/dVjAnX6nsa
— CNN (@CNN) June 12, 2026
The sky-high investor expectations were well-earned: in the months prior, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 fleet had completed its 50th dedicated Starlink mission of the year, its constellation surpassed 10,000 active satellites in orbit, its 1,000th Starlink satellite of 2026 roared skyward in April. The SpaeX Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, stuck consecutive booster catches on Flights 8 and 9 and in May it’s enhanced V3 test launch successfully concluded in a soft landing in the Indian Ocean.
Not only did CEO Elon Musk become a trillionaire, but many SpaceX employees are now incredibly wealthy from the stock they earned by being part of this success.
Before Juan Hernandez became a welder at SpaceX, he had never heard of the company.
“It was just another contract job for me at the time,” he told CBS News correspondent Jo Ling Kent in a broadcast exclusive interview.
Now, just over 10 years later, that leap of faith is paying off following the company’s $75 billion initial public offering. Hernandez, who now works at Jeff Bezos-owned rocket startup Blue Origin, has roughly 6,500 SpaceX shares. On Friday, SpaceX stock closed at $160.95, valuing his holdings at $1,046,175.
SpaceX shares started trading on the Nasdaq late Friday morning under the ticker symbol SPCX, marking the long-awaited Wall Street debut of the rocket and satellite company.
Former SpaceX welder expected to become a millionaire after historic IPO. https://t.co/lwKYfrvuXb
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 12, 2026
Hernandez is not the only one.
Mr. Musk’s friends, such as the investor Antonio Gracias, as well as Silicon Valley venture capital firms and other private investment companies, are also set to reap large rewards. An analysis from Hill.com, a San Francisco-based investment platform, estimated that more than 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees were also likely to become millionaires from the I.P.O., with around 400 of those expected to earn $100 million or more.
Mr. Musk, who founded SpaceX in 2002, has redefined the space industry with partly reusable rockets and a satellite internet service, Starlink. In February, SpaceX bought his A.I. company, xAI, which owned his social media platform, X. He separately runs the electric carmaker Tesla, as well as other companies.
However, in life there are both winners and losers. California is turning out to be a big loser, after it chased SpaceX and the rest of Musk’s companies away from the state after one of the state’s progressive politicians decided the smart move for her constituents was to insult him on social media with profanity.
Paired with other Golden State policies, the company headquarters moved to a town in Texas, now named “Starbase”.
This aged horrifically.
California politicians dunked on Elon and helped drive out SpaceX, Tesla jobs, engineers, suppliers, and the tax base.
Now SpaceX is headed for a $1.75T IPO.
“Message received” may be the most expensive political own-goal in California history. pic.twitter.com/JIe5ZBPqB5
— Ben Pouladian (@benitoz) June 12, 2026
But many Texans are becoming millionaires…so there is that.
The world’s richest man became its first trillionaire in a record-setting IPO that is spawning a new generation of Texas millionaires among SpaceX employees. https://t.co/L0gq5wsPvM pic.twitter.com/UGPTZClvuG
— Austin Statesman (@statesman) June 12, 2026
Personally, my fiscally savvy husband thinks I should wait to buy stock until the price settles a bit. However, many people who love space exploration are already investing simply for the pride and joy of being connected to exploring our universe.
YES, I bought SpaceX
NO, I do not care about the valuation
You’re getting…
THE BEST news site
THE most truthful AI
THE Best builder of things
THE Best military IPO
THE Best rocket scientists
THE Best internet provider
THE Best space companyAnd all got a massive injection…
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) June 12, 2026
Personally, I am hoping for some stock as a birthday present.
For now, I will simply take joy in seeing a man dedicated to excellence and his like-minded team enjoying the prosperity they earned. This is what American ingenuity, private enterprise, and an absolute refusal to accept “impossible” as an answer looks like.
I am filled with optimism at the fact that the world's first trillionaire was made not by hedge funds or market manipulation, but by building the infrastructure to take America to the stars. https://t.co/UKzuFmqwg3
— RAH-66 COMANCHE (@rah_66_comanche) June 12, 2026
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Comments
Just in time for this story. A convenient day for the story to appear.
https://archive.ph/7X63Y
That seems like an awful lot of pearl clutching. The volume of the earth’s atmosphere is enormous. Volcanic eruptions send far more toxins into the atmosphere than the trace amounts found in satellites burning up in reentry.
If there is one person who deserves to be a billionaire it’s Musk. Paypal, Telsa, SpaceX. Neuralink, The Boring Co. are all companies he either founded or was involved with early. All positively contribute to their various fields and employ tens of thousands of well paid workers.
The commies and socialist parasites should STFU and die, They contribute nothing and never will. They are nothing more than leeches.
I will also admit to being a bit jealous of the many workers whose hard work is being rewarded or will be rewarded when they are allowed to sell their stock. I worked for 3 startup and while I did experience 1 IPO and 2 acquisitions I never really scored. Good for them and well done. Keep it up.
Musk now has a net worth over a trillion dollars. He is the first Trillionaire!
Doh. I knew that but thanks.
I forgot his AI company. There is also X but he bought that after it had been around for awhile and was public.
He was also a founder of OpenAI
I got a few shares at 135, not many , only the big guys were able to pull that off. I thought I was getting a hundred shares but I wasn’t able to.
Now I need to decide if I want buy more or if I feel the price will go down and stabilize and then go back in.
I think I’m diving back in
Sky’s the not the limit
Infinity and beyond
It is 100% going to go down. I’m actually a big fan of Musk, but this company is not profitable and won’t be for a while, and that’s only a big IF (if he can build sustainable, cost-effective AI data centers in space).
People are overbuying this on name brand.
Yes, most IPOs rise quickly and then decline. The success of SPCX in the long run will depend on the same fundamentals that affect all stocks, especially earnings and innovation. Musk has a strong record in that arena and that is what people are betting on.
It will go up some more then drop to a reasonable valuation I think. Unless you just want a share or 10 to have I’d wait. I want a few but I’m waiting on it as I never buy an IPO. Always overvalued by hype, the smart money has already gotten their positions through private placements.
I think it’s interesting that no one has interviewed that doofus state representative and asked her if she is happy she helped drive Elon out of California not to mention all the other companies.
I had some residual cash sitting in my Trading 212 account so bought shares yesterday afternoon.
By residual cash I mean a couple pounds and my shares I mean 0.012 shares! In a hundred years that should be worth maybe £20. Now that is generational wealth 🤣🤣