Elon Musk's SpaceX is seeking to go public with a valuation of $1.78 trillion, marking not only a historic moment for capital markets but also potentially a windfall for officials in the Trump administration.
On Wednesday, SpaceX, the aerospace and artificial intelligence company led by Elon Musk, disclosed revised listing documents, planning to offer 555.6 million shares at $135 per share, raising approximately $75 billion. If underwriters exercise the 'greenshoe' option, the offering size could expand to $86 billion, valuing the company at $1.78 trillion—a scale that would rank among the largest initial public offerings in history.
The use of proceeds has been explicitly allocated across several priorities: foremost is expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure, followed by research and development of launch vehicles and construction of the Starlink satellite network. Concurrently, the company must deploy a portion of the raised capital within six months to repay a $20 billion bridge loan provided by underwriting banks in March, which was used to restructure debt related to its social media and AI businesses, X and xAI.
Although the company has yet to achieve profitability, its price-to-sales ratio based on this offering price stands at a lofty 92 times, significantly higher than most large technology firms. In its prospectus, the company emphasizes that artificial intelligence represents its largest potential market and outlines a longer-term vision that includes orbital-scale AI data centers, asteroid mining, and future passenger services to the Moon and Mars.
The prospectus states: 'By transcending our only home thus far, we ensure species-level redundancy and guarantee that the light of consciousness is not confined to a single planet.' The filing also notes that investors have extremely limited influence over corporate governance. Musk holds nearly all Class B super-voting shares, giving him control of approximately 82% of voting power and effective authority to remove the chairman or chief executive officer.
This governance structure has raised concerns among major institutional investors. Last month, the heads of the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System wrote to company executives, expressing 'serious concern' over the company’s 'novel and extreme governance structure' and Musk’s apparent 'immunity from accountability mechanisms.' As these funds track major equity indices, they would be required to passively purchase SpaceX shares should the company be included in such benchmarks.
The company plans to kick off its IPO roadshow on Thursday, during which Wall Street investment bank analysts will present financial projections to potential investors. This listing comes as technology companies intensify their investments in artificial intelligence: Alphabet has initiated plans to raise $85 billion in equity capital, Anthropic has confidentially filed for an IPO, and OpenAI is expected to pursue a similar path.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, at the proposed offering price, Musk’s net worth would reach approximately $988 billion—just shy of becoming the world’s first trillionaire. However, given the potential for shares to be sold at a higher price and the typical first-day pop seen in IPOs, he could surpass the trillion-dollar mark later next week, when the stock is expected to begin trading.
SpaceX’s IPO poised to further boost wealth of Trump administration officials
Beyond its sheer scale, SpaceX’s listing has drawn attention due to its close ties with the U.S. government. The company is a major federal contractor, having executed approximately $4 billion in government contracts in fiscal year 2025, and last month secured two new $6.5 billion contracts from the U.S. Space Force for satellite communications and airborne threat monitoring.
Meanwhile, public financial disclosures reveal that ten former Trump administration officials—including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and former Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler—hold financial interests in SpaceX or its merged entity xAI. Based on valuation ranges disclosed last year, the aggregate value of these holdings ranged between $9.9 million and $43.8 million. Due to relaxed disclosure requirements for private company equity transactions, it remains unclear whether these positions have changed since then.
Vitkov holds SpaceX assets indirectly through 3G Investors LLC, with a reported value between $1 million and $5 million; Lefler invested in xAI through the Valor Equity Partners fund, which was founded by Antonio Gracias, a long-time associate of Elon Musk. Public records indicate that Valor is one of SpaceX’s significant shareholders aside from Musk himself.
In numerous other cases, officials have more direct ties to corporations. Paul McInerny, former SpaceX engineer and current Chief Information Officer at the Department of the Interior, holds company shares valued between $5 million and $25 million and has received an ethics waiver allowing him to participate in work involving broad policy issues. The Department of the Interior stated that he would recuse himself from any matters directly related to his personal financial interests.
Michael Lynch, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration, holds SpaceX shares valued between $500,000 and $1 million; Ambassador to Luxembourg Stacey Feinberg holds an interest in xAI through a fund. The State Department responded that all officials, including ambassadors, are required to comply with relevant disclosure and legal obligations.
Reilly Steel, a law professor at Columbia University, remarked, “I can’t think of another IPO in recent years where so many senior government officials held financial stakes.”
Caleb Burns of the law firm Wiley Rein LLP also stated, “This is the largest public offering ever, led by someone who was once a close ally of the president… Historically, there is no precedent for this.”
In some instances, regulatory requirements have already triggered specific divestments. New Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh previously held exposure to SpaceX through a fund linked to Stan Druckenmiller and committed in his ethics filing to complete the divestment before assuming office.
Discussions around conflicts of interest also involve specific administrative functions. As the key federal agency responsible for managing federal lands, environmental permitting, and infrastructure oversight, the Department of the Interior intersects with SpaceX in multiple ways: the National Park Service uses Starlink services, and the company has previously applied to build infrastructure near wildlife refuges.
According to disclosure documents, McInerny sold a portion of his SpaceX shares in 2024 and 2025, realizing gains between $1 million and $5 million. He explained to ethics officials that fully exiting his position presented operational difficulties, as shareholder sales—both timing and volume—are controlled by the company while it remains privately held.
Scott Amey, General Counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, commented on the matter: “This may be legal, but it’s not best practice. It requires constant oversight. Best practice would be to divest entirely to eliminate even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Editor/KOKO