You Probably Won’t Get Rich Off the SpaceX IPO
Key takeaways
- There’s extraordinary interest in Elon Musk’s rocket-and-AI company’s public debut, and for good reason.
- Like all IPOs, though, stratospheric wealth will likely be reserved for those who already hold shares of SpaceX, which means employees, big institutional asset managers, and Elon Musk.
- To be absolutely clear, this isn’t investment advice, or a prediction about the long-term financial health of SpaceX or its share price.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: Camara Porter/AP Photo Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story One thing that seems certain about the Space X IPO is that it’s going to make lots of people very, very rich. Another is that you probably won’t be one of them. At least not any time soon.
There’s extraordinary interest in Elon Musk’s rocket-and-AI company’s public debut, and for good reason. Space X was already the leading private space company in the world, its rockets shuttling astronauts to the International Space Station and its Starlink satellites providing internet connectivity to millions of people around the world. Its recent acquisition of xAI means it is also the first of the big three AI startups in the US to go public, with Anthropic and OpenAI following close behind. The company raised $75 billion, valuing it at $1.75 trillion, which would make it the biggest IPO ever by a sizable margin.
Like all IPOs, though, stratospheric wealth will likely be reserved for those who already hold shares of SpaceX, which means employees, big institutional asset managers, and Elon Musk. Even though so-called retail investors—individuals who don’t buy stock professionally—will have more access to SpaceX shares than is typical for an IPO, most people won’t be in a position to see serious gains .