SPCX closed up 19% on debut day, confirming the $1.77 trillion valuation held in public markets. Anthropic's S-1 is now filed, SpaceX's reception sets the floor for AI IPO pricing, and a four-month rolling lock-up window may expose SPV fraud before year end.
- $135 per share IPO price set up a $75 billion raise, making SpaceX the largest stock market debut in recorded history.
- SPCX opened at $150 and closed at $160.95, up 19% on debut day, validating the $1.77 trillion valuation in public markets on first trade.
- Musk’s net worth crosses $1 trillion on paper for the first time, making him the first person in history to reach that figure.
- SpaceX posted a $2.6 billion operating loss and a $4.9 billion net loss on $18.7 billion in revenue last year, while its $26.5 trillion AI revenue projection has no current product base.
- Multi-layer SPV investors stacked four or five tiers deep face delays of up to eight or nine months for shares, undisclosed fee erosion, and a documented fraud risk.
What Happened
SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share on June 11, raising $75 billion in the largest stock market debut in history. The $1.77 trillion valuation tops Saudi Aramco’s $26 billion raise in 2019.
The listing formalizes SpaceX’s February 2026 merger with xAI, combining rockets, Starlink, and generative AI under one public entity. SpaceX trades on Nasdaq as SPCX, with Musk holding 82.4% voting power post-IPO through 5.22 billion Class B shares carrying 10 votes each.
At the IPO price, Forbes estimates Musk’s net worth crosses $1 trillion for the first time in history. SPCX then opened at $150 on June 13, an 11% pop, and closed at $160.95, up 19%, with Robinhood reporting record-breaking platform traffic on debut day.
SpaceX posted $18.7 billion in revenue last year with a $2.6 billion operating loss and a $4.9 billion net loss. Investors who backed the company through multi-layer special purpose vehicles, stacked as deep as four or five tiers, may not learn their actual share counts until rolling lock-ups spanning about four months begin to lift.
Why It Matters
The IPO arrives as Anthropic files its own confidential S-1 with the SEC, with OpenAI’s listing also widely expected to follow. SpaceX’s prospectus claims up to $26.5 trillion in potential AI revenue, supported by a compute partnership with Anthropic and a $60 billion deal to acquire AI coding tool Cursor later this year.
The skeptic case deepened on debut day. SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell suggested a Tesla merger could simplify Musk’s corporate structure, adding potential dilution risk for new public shareholders on top of a stock already carrying a $4.9 billion net loss. xAI’s Grok also remains rated below OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google’s Gemini per IDC, and most of Musk’s wealth remains in illiquid stock.
Idan Miller, managing partner at Unicorns Exchange, told TechCrunch the lock-up expiry will expose bad actors in the SPV chain. He predicted that “there will be some vehicles that will be revealed as scammers or fraud” once distributions begin.
“…paving the way for AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI to follow soon after.”
Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities
Investors who accessed SpaceX through multi-layer SPVs, sometimes stacked four or five tiers deep, may wait up to eight or nine months to receive shares, have returns eroded by undisclosed fees, or find their SPV manager has gone silent entirely. Both Anthropic and Anduril have already announced they will no longer allow these structures.
Bottom Line
SPCX held the $1.77 trillion valuation on day one and then some. Watch whether it sustains above the $160 close over the next 30 days as Anthropic’s S-1 process advances and Gwynne Shotwell’s Tesla merger hint moves from speculation toward a formal discussion.
For SaaS founders and their teams, Anthropic’s compute deal sitting inside SpaceX’s public filing links the AI tools they depend on today to one of the most scrutinized public companies in the market. Relve, an AI trends intelligence platform, is tracking the full AI IPO wave as Anthropic’s own listing date approaches.
