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Elon Musk to become world's first trillionaire thanks to SpaceX stock market debut

SpaceX hitting the stock market is the biggest flotation in history and could also make Tesla and X owner the world's first paper trillionaire and cement his position as the richest man on the planet

[Elon Musk departs after a welcome ceremony with President Donald Trump ]

Elon Musk departs after a welcome ceremony with President Donald Trump (Image: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Mega rich entrepreneur Elon Musk is set to become the world's first trillionaire. His SpaceX business raised 75 billion US dollars (56 billion) ahead of its record-breaking 1.8 trillion US dollar (1.3 trillion) US stock market debut.

The move is the biggest flotation in history and could also make Tesla and X owner Mr Musk - already a billionaire - the world's first paper trillionaire and cement his position as the richest man on the planet.

In a filing with America's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SpaceX confirmed the float price of 135 dollars (100.65) for shares, with 555.6 million being sold.

It meant SpaceX was set to be valued at 1.77 trillion (1.3 trillion) dollars when trading kicked off later yesterday to make the history books as the biggest ever initial public offering (IPO) of all time.

But the value of SpaceX shares could rise or fall once publicly traded on Nasdaq, and there are concerns over the firm - which is still making a loss - being over-valued amid a tech IPO frenzy.

AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic OpenAI have both revealed plans to float in recent weeks as the industry's race to go public enters full swing.

[SpaceX signage outside the Space Exploration Technologies Corp]

SpaceX signage outside the Space Exploration Technologies Corp(Image: Michael Yanow/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

In the UK, 2.7 million shares worth 364 million dollars (271 million) have been pre-allocated to British retail investors, according to the firm handling UK subscriptions.

It said total demand from UK retail investors stood at just under one billion dollars (740 million), while total global demand from smaller investors was reportedly over 100 billion dollars (74.5 billion), meaning many orders were unfulfilled.

Nearly two thirds (61%) of British retail investors received a full allocation of shares, with those applying for up to 2,700 dollars' worth (2,013) getting the full amount, while those applying for more than this saw allocations scaled back, with a maximum allowed at 1,000 shares each.

The blockbuster equity raise will help SpaceX launch 100,000 next-generation Starlink satellites into orbit as part of aims to deploy AI data centres in space but there are fears the overall float has been at least four times over-subscribed.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at the Wealth Club, said: "Elon Musk likes to make a splash in everything he does, but he may not soak the markets in rocket fuel this time around, with more scepticism surfacing about the reality of his long-term ambitions.

"Retail investors who will make up 30% of buyers are buying into his big dreams of space domination despite the risks surrounding his vision.

"SpaceX's ambitions are stratospheric and potentially transformative, but they are also highly capital-intensive and dependent on technological breakthroughs and regulatory approvals.

"The coming weeks and months are likely to see volatility hit the stock, which often happens post-listing - and is highly likely given the mega valuation."

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