Musk's SpaceX lists on Nasdaq, aiming for the moon in world's largest IPO

SpaceX, the space exploration and artificial intelligence company, officially began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York on Thursday. CEO Elon Musk expressed his ambition for the company to eventually transport consumers to the moon. This Initial Public Offering (IPO), touted as the largest in the world, has generated considerable investor enthusiasm and is seen as the start of a new surge in listings for AI-focused companies.

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SpaceX hopes to take you to the moon.

Elon Musk and SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell participated in the opening bell ceremony at the Nasdaq market site in Times Square, Manhattan. The atmosphere was celebratory, with supporters and media gathered outside the exchange. Musk conveyed his excitement before trading commenced, stating, "SpaceX hopes to take you to the moon." Large electronic billboards around Times Square displayed promotional content featuring rocket launches, drawing the attention of tourists and supporters.

SpaceX is listed under the ticker symbol SPCX, with plans to raise $75 billion by offering shares at $135 each. The IPO's scale significantly surpasses previous record-holders: Alibaba's $25 billion IPO in 2014 and Saudi Aramco's approximately $29 billion offering in 2019. Investor Ben Brogan expressed his excitement, noting SpaceX's 23-year history and achievements, calling its public listing "almost surreal." He anticipates further significant developments, suggesting SpaceX could potentially be larger than Tesla due to its integrated launch and space operations, now combined with AI.

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SpaceX has 23 years of history, many achievements, and going public is almost surreal. I look forward to more major developments from SpaceX, this is just the beginning.

The listing arrives at a time when the U.S. capital market has seen limited IPO activity over the past decade, influenced by shifts in U.S.-China relations and the pandemic. The success of SpaceX's IPO is expected to gauge investor appetite for upcoming listings of AI startups such as Anthropic and OpenAI, both projected to have market values nearing $1 trillion. Anthropic is anticipated to list in the fall.

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From a future value perspective, this is the largest company listing in the world and a step towards the future. If it didn't go public, SpaceX might not be able to take humans on space exploration for another 200 years; by then, we wouldn't be around. This is paving the way for the future.