‘Literally you’: Musk takes SpaceX public with a promise to send people to the Moon and Mars

Elon Musk’s SpaceX began its journey as a publicly traded company on Friday with a historic Wall Street debut, but the billionaire entrepreneur used the moment to highlight a vision far beyond markets and valuations: making space travel accessible to ordinary people.

Joining the ceremonial Nasdaq opening bell from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch facility in South Texas, Musk said the company’s ultimate goal was to make life “multi-planetary” by taking humanity beyond Earth.

“Not just a few astronauts, I mean literally you,” Musk said. “Whoever you are watching this, SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, take you to Mars and ultimately beyond.”

The IPO has pushed Musk closer to becoming the world’s first trillionaire, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $982.6 billion ahead of the company’s market debut.

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Investors showed strong appetite for SpaceX despite the company’s enormous ambitions and financial challenges. The company raised $75 billion by selling 555.6 million shares, surpassing the previous record held by Saudi Aramco, which raised $26 billion in its 2019 listing.

SpaceX’s valuation rests heavily on confidence in Musk’s ability to deliver on projects that include establishing a million-person settlement on Mars, expanding satellite networks, launching large-scale orbital data centres and competing in artificial intelligence.

However, the company faces significant financial demands. Between January 2025 and March 2026, SpaceX reported losses of $8.7 billion as it invested heavily in future projects.

Musk’s reputation remains a key factor behind investor confidence. He built his fortune through ventures including Zip2 and PayPal before founding SpaceX and investing in Tesla, where he helped popularise electric vehicles and turned the company into one of the world’s most valuable automakers.

Tesla’s strong market performance has played a major role in Musk’s wealth creation, with the company delivering returns of around 20,000% since its 2010 public listing.

SpaceX is the first of three major technology companies expected to enter public markets this year, with artificial intelligence firms Anthropic and OpenAI also reportedly preparing listings.

The IPO has also drawn criticism from some institutional investors over provisions including special voting rights for Musk, mandatory arbitration clauses and concerns about the level of control he may retain over the company.

Despite those concerns, SpaceX’s market debut reflects investor confidence in Musk’s vision of transforming space exploration into a commercial industry.

With inputs from agencies