SpaceX IPO debuts in US markets, Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire

SpaceX lands on public markets as the sixth largest US company by market value.SpaceX has debuted on US markets with a market valuation of more than $2 trillion, minting CEO Elon Musk as the world’s first trillionaire.Shares opened on Friday at $150 per share, marking a 11 percent increase from the initial public offering (IPO) price of $135, valuing the company at $1.96 trillion and putting the aerospace company on track to become the sixth-largest company in the United States.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Can Africa turn its population boom into prosperity?list 2 of 4Stock markets surge as Trump calls off strikes on Iran, touts peace deallist 3 of 4Elon Musk poised to make history as world’s first trillionairelist 4 of 4Indonesian students protest gov’t policies amid economic strainend of listThe stock, traded under the ticker symbol SPCX, is up at $164.99 in the first hour of the trade.The company sold $75bn in shares, immediately valuing it at $1.77 trillion. The IPO was oversubscribed four times higher than was otherwise expected, according to the Reuters news agency.Of the institutional investors allocated, according to Bloomberg News, as much as 70 percent went to what are called long-only investments — a strategy in which holders buy assets based on the expectation that their value will grow over time — and sovereign wealth funds, including those from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as well.SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen rang the opening bell at Nasdaq MarketSite in New York City at 9:30am local time as US markets opened.On Thursday, protesters gathered outside the MarketSite to protest the IPO amid continued allegations that Grok, part of xAI, a subsidiary of SpaceX, allowed users to create non-consensual deepfake sexualised images before the IPO debut.Shares of SpaceX did not trade until the middle of the trading day as the exchange collected buy and sell orders and underwriters delayed trading until supply and demand were balanced.“We would expect SpaceX to see an immediate pop in trading due to the hype around the deal, north of 20 percent perhaps,” said Samuel Kerr, global head of equity capital markets at Mergermarket. “Anything lower would actually make me nervous.”