SpaceX Soars on Nasdaq Debut, Musk’s Wealth Surpasses $1 Trillion
The American aerospace company SpaceX made a historic listing on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, June 12, with its stock price surging dramatically on the first day of trading, propelling its founder Elon Musk to become the world’s first individual with personal wealth exceeding $1 trillion.
Within less than two hours of opening, SpaceX’s share price rose approximately 30% above its offering price of $135, briefly surpassing $175 before slightly pulling back.
The market enthusiastically embraced this highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO). SpaceX raised a staggering $75 billion in this IPO—the largest in global history—roughly three times the previous record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019. If all over-allotments are fully exercised, the total fundraising could rise further to $86 billion.
On Friday, Musk said at SpaceX’s headquarters in Starbase, Texas, that the company aims to “take people to the Moon, Mars, and eventually even farther.” He emphasized: “With this exceptional team at SpaceX, I believe we can achieve this goal.”
On its debut day, Musk also shared multiple photos on his social platform X showing investment bankers wearing green shoes bearing the SpaceX logo. In Wall Street parlance, “green shoes” (Green Shoe) symbolize strong demand, enabling companies to raise additional funds through over-allotment options.
As of Friday morning, SpaceX’s market capitalization had surpassed $2 trillion, placing it among the eight highest-valued publicly traded companies globally.
However, this valuation represents more than 100 times the company’s annual revenue—a figure considered extremely rare in traditional financial markets.
Adam Ennis, a 35-year-old wealth management advisor, told AFP: “Investors want to be part of the venture Elon Musk is building.”
The World’s First “Trillionaire”
With SpaceX’s successful public listing, Musk’s personal fortune has now crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time. This amount is nearly equivalent to the annual gross domestic product (GDP) of Switzerland or Poland.
Since late 2024, Musk’s wealth has nearly doubled, widening the gap between him and other global billionaires.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, stated that this development once again highlights the growing global wealth inequality—and serves as a reminder that those benefiting from such disparities must assume corresponding social responsibilities.
Meanwhile, controversies surrounding Musk have not subsided.
Earlier this week, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delay SpaceX’s IPO to ensure investor protection. Warren noted that Musk holds “unprecedented” influence. In recent years, his public support for U.S. President Trump and certain far-right political figures in Europe has transformed him from a widely celebrated innovator into a deeply polarizing figure.
Despite holding about 42% of SpaceX shares post-IPO, Musk still controls the majority of voting power in the company.
Investors Betting on the “Mars Economy”
In this IPO, SpaceX specifically reserved a significant portion of newly issued shares for retail individual investors. Many investors are betting not on the company’s current operations, but on Musk’s vision for the future.
Currently, SpaceX operates mature and profitable ventures such as the Falcon rocket launch business and the Starlink satellite internet network. However, the market is increasingly focused on emerging industries yet to take shape—such as space-based data centers, lunar transportation, Martian colonization, and deep-space resource exploitation.
Source: rfi
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1867832710514692/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s).