SpaceX Moves Toward IPO

SpaceX is rapidly moving toward a 2026 IPO, with reports placing its potential valuation between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion. Musk has publicly confirmed the accuracy of the coverage, signaling a major shift from his earlier stance. The company’s rising valuation, secondary share sales, and growing capital needs for Starlink, Starship, and new AI infrastructure all point to a record-setting public debut. Analysts say a listing of this scale could reopen the IPO market and unlock trillions in pent-up private valuations, especially across the tech sector where companies now stay private far longer. Together, recent reporting shows that a SpaceX IPO may not only reshape the company’s future but also redefine how large technology firms approach the public markets.

A TechCrunch report by Sean O’Kane summarizes new Bloomberg reporting that SpaceX is planning a mid-to-late 2026 IPO, aiming to raise $30 billion at a valuation of about $1.5 trillion. This would make it the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing. The move marks a shift from SpaceX’s earlier idea of taking only Starlink public while keeping the main company private. TechCrunch notes that Bloomberg’s report follows earlier coverage from The Information, which first reported a late-2026 target. At the same time, The Wall Street Journal recently reported a secondary share sale giving SpaceX an $800 billion+ valuation, with employees allowed to sell about $2 billion worth of stock at $420 per share. Bloomberg now says that sale has been “firmed up,” reinforcing the company’s rising valuation as it prepares for a potential record-setting IPO.

Ambar Warrick from Investing.com confirms that a SpaceX IPO is looking increasingly likely after Elon Musk publicly validated the reporting. Responding to an X post from Ars Technica’s Eric Berger, Musk said, “As usual, Eric is accurate,” signaling a shift from his long-standing reluctance to take SpaceX public. Recent reports say the company is preparing for a 2026 IPO that could seek a valuation above $1 trillion and raise more than $25 billion, potentially making it one of the largest offerings since Saudi Aramco’s 2019 debut. SpaceX appears driven by the need for additional capital to build data centers and support AI infrastructure in space, aligning with Musk’s broader focus on artificial intelligence. The report also highlights SpaceX’s strong operational record and major NASA contracts, including the recent return of two stranded astronauts, which adds momentum to what could become one of the most significant IPOs of the decade.

Google

Ben Bergman and Lee Chong Ming from Business Insider highlight how a SpaceX IPO could deliver one of the most profitable startup investments in history for Google. Alphabet invested about $900 million in SpaceX in 2015 for roughly 7% ownership, when the company was valued at just $12 billion. With SpaceX now reportedly preparing a 2026 IPO targeting a $1.5 trillion valuation, Google’s stake would be worth an estimated $111 billion.

Musk appeared to validate the IPO discussions by calling Eric Berger’s reporting on an imminent offering “accurate” in a post on X. Business Insider notes that even before a public listing, SpaceX has already materially boosted Alphabet’s earnings. Earlier this year, Google reported an $8 billion gain from “non-marketable equity securities,” which Bloomberg identified as its SpaceX investment — representing 25% of Google’s Q1 2025 net income. Google remains one of SpaceX’s largest outside investors alongside Founders Fund and Fidelity, and its early bet on Starlink has evolved into both a major financial win and a strategic partnership, as SpaceX continues to use Google Cloud to support Starlink’s global operations.

Private Companies and Public Markets

Morningstar’s analysis shows that the surge in private capital is reshaping public markets by keeping many high-growth companies private far longer, shrinking the number and quality of firms that enter the small-cap universe. This trend hits technology companies the hardest. Tech firms can now raise enormous private rounds, allowing them to scale, refine products, and capture most of their value appreciation before ever considering an IPO. As a result, today’s most transformative tech companies, such as OpenAI, SpaceX, Anthropic, and Stripe, grow to hundreds of billions in valuation while still private, meaning their early upside accrues to private investors rather than the public markets. At the same time, private equity is taking more public tech companies private and intensifying competitive pressure on smaller public firms, which already lag in fundamentals. The combined effect is a smaller, weaker small-cap tech landscape and a public market that increasingly misses out on the innovation-driven growth that once defined early-stage technology investing.