By Blessing Nweke
SpaceX has announced plans to go public in the United States in what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history. The company said its shares are expected to trade under the ticker symbol “SPCX,” with the initial public offering potentially beginning as early as next month.
The filing offers investors a rare look into the finances of the rocket and satellite giant founded by Elon Musk. SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, reported revenue of $18.6bn last year but posted a net loss of $4.9bn. In the first quarter of this year, the company generated $4.7bn in sales while recording another $4.3bn loss.
The company currently values itself at about $1.25tn. Musk’s majority ownership stake could be worth more than $600bn after the listing, potentially pushing his total net worth beyond $1trn. The billionaire already became the first person to surpass a personal fortune of $500bn last year.
SpaceX owns satellite internet provider Starlink and also controls AI firm xAI, developer of the Grok chatbot. The IPO filing revealed the company faces mounting legal challenges, including lawsuits alleging Grok was used to create sexualized deepfakes of women and girls.
The company disclosed $102bn in assets alongside $60.5bn in debt and warned of more than half a billion dollars in expected legal expenses. SpaceX also confirmed a major agreement with Anthropic worth $15bn annually for access to xAI-linked data centres in the American South.
The IPO filing arrives days after Musk lost a legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive SMam Altman.
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