The rocket and satellite company has accelerated its timeline, aiming to price shares on June 11 at a valuation of up to $1.75 trillion
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At $75 billion, the anticipated capital raise would set an all-time IPO record, eclipsing the $29 billion that Saudi Aramco collected when it went public in 2019, according to Reuters, which also reported a target valuation of up to $1.75 trillion. The Wall Street Journal reported the company could seek to raise $80 billion or more.
A faster-than-expected regulatory review by the SEC contributed to the decision to move up the timeline, according to Reuters. SpaceX could make its prospectus public as early as next week, with a roadshow set to begin June 4.
Beating out the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq was selected as the listing venue — a choice that analysts have linked in part to a rule the exchange introduced on May 1. Under what Nasdaq calls its "fast entry" provision, a newly public company of sufficient size can qualify for the Nasdaq-100 after only 15 trading sessions, according to Yahoo Finance, which means index-tracking funds would be compelled to buy into SpaceX soon after its debut.
Morgan Stanley $MS, Bank of America $BAC, Citigroup $C, JPMorgan $JPM, and Goldman Sachs $GS are leading the offering, with 16 additional banks in smaller roles, according to Reuters. The underwriting fees alone could reach $1 billion, according to MarketWatch, citing University of Florida finance professor Jay Ritter.
"Unless it's a much lower percentage spread than that, it's likely to be the biggest underwriting payday ever for an IPO in terms of the total dollar amount that underwriters will be getting," Ritter told MarketWatch.
Questions about SpaceX's proposed ownership structure have emerged ahead of its market debut, according to Fortune. Through a mechanism involving super-voting Class B shares, the plan would concentrate authority so firmly in CEO Elon Musk's hands that removing him from the position would require his own consent. Several of the country's largest public pension funds have formally protested the arrangement, telling the company in a letter that no IPO of comparable magnitude has ever proposed terms this tilted toward management, according to Fortune.
Revenue climbed more than 30% to $18.7 billion in the most recent fiscal year, according to Fortune, though a $6.4 billion drag from the xAI division — recently folded into the company — pushed the bottom line to a net loss of $4.9 billion. The Starlink unit delivered a brighter picture, with profit rising to $4.4 billion, more than double the prior year.
Fortune adds that SpaceX commanded upward of 80% of global rocket launches last year and operates a constellation of more than 10,000 Starlink satellites. Among its customers are NASA and the Defense Department, and the company is in the running for a NASA mission to return astronauts to the lunar surface.
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