SpaceX Goes Public, Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire
June 12, 2026
SpaceX Goes Public, Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire
SpaceX, the rocket and data center company founded by Elon Musk, has gone public on the Nasdaq in what is already the world’s largest public listing. Shares surged 20 percent at the IPO, pushing the company’s market capitalization above two trillion dollars and cementing its position as one of the most valuable companies on the planet.
The listing marks a historic milestone for Musk, whose 38 percent stake in SpaceX is now worth approximately $800 billion. Combined with his roughly $165 billion stake in Tesla, along with holdings in Neuralink, the Boring Company, and other ventures, Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire. The IPO has drawn significant attention, though critics have questioned the high valuation of a business that remains primarily loss-making. Analysts at Morningstar believe SpaceX is overvalued by 114 percent relative to its IPO price.
SpaceX, which recently merged with Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI, is pursuing an ambitious plan to deploy data centers in space. The company has filed regulatory documentation to launch up to one million compute satellites, and earlier this month detailed its proposed AI1 satellite design. SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell said the first AI1 units are expected to launch in late 2027, but noted that the company intends to integrate compute capabilities onto its Starlink broadband and Starlink mobile satellites before the AI1’s debut.
The space-based data center proposal has drawn widespread criticism from industry experts and environmental groups, who question the feasibility, cost, and orbital impact of such a massive deployment. Meanwhile, the broader IPO has sparked debate about market valuations in the space and technology sectors, with some analysts warning that investor enthusiasm may be outpacing underlying financial fundamentals.
Source: datacenterdynamics
