SpaceX debuts on Wall Street with 19.3% surge, largest IPO in history

SpaceX shares soared on their debut on Wall Street, closing their first day of trading on the Nasdaq index with a 19.3% increase. This marked the largest initial public offering in history, with the aerospace and artificial intelligence company's stock finishing at $161.11, exceeding both its initial trading price and the $135 set in its IPO.

The company set a record for IPO fundraising, securing over $75 billion, significantly higher than the $25.6 billion raised by Saudi Aramco in 2019. SpaceX concluded the trading day with a market capitalization of $2.1 trillion, positioning itself as the seventh-largest publicly traded company globally, behind giants like Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and TSMC.

Founded and led by Elon Musk, SpaceX began trading on Nasdaq more than two hours after the market opened. At its peak during the session, SpaceX shares reached $176.52, a 30% increase. The trading volume for its shares, under the symbol SPCX, was approximately 503 million, one of the highest in recent years.

Musk, already the world's wealthiest person before the IPO, is estimated to have become the first trillionaire based on his stakes in SpaceX and Tesla. He stated from Starbase, Texas, that SpaceX's mission is to develop the technology for humanity to become a "multi-planetary civilization," enabling future travel to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Meanwhile, in New York, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell rang the opening bell as crowds gathered at the Nasdaq headquarters in Times Square.

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SpaceX seeks to develop the technology necessary to make humanity a "multi-planetary civilization" and "make it possible for anyone to travel to the Moon, Mars, or even beyond the solar system one day."