SpaceX Begins Trading at $160 as Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire

SpaceX shares began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX at $160.83 per share, 19% above the $135 IPO price set Thursday night. The opening values SpaceX at approximately $2.1 trillion, making it the seventh largest public company in the world.

The debut also pushed Elon Musk’s net worth past $1 trillion, making him the first person in history to reach that threshold.

Why Trading Was Delayed

SpaceX went public Friday but trading did not begin immediately. Before the first trade on any IPO, Nasdaq runs an opening auction collecting all buy and sell orders to find a single price where both sides agree to transact. The demand for SpaceX shares was so overwhelming relative to available sellers that the system could not find that clearing price for several hours.

Nasdaq’s President confirmed additional time was needed to ensure the IPO opened in an orderly fashion and at the right price. Early indications pointed to an opening around $162 to $175 before trading settled at $160.83. Google and Meta both experienced similar delays of over two hours before their first trades printed on their respective IPO days.

Bybit Users Left Out

Not everyone participated in the historic debut. Bybit announced that users who subscribed to SpaceX shares through its IPO Express feature will not receive any allocation. The exchange said xStocks, its underlying asset delivery partner, was unable to deliver the SpaceX shares.

All subscription funds will be automatically refunded to users’ original funding accounts with no action required. As compensation for the inconvenience Bybit said eligible participants will receive an additional reward calculated at 10% APR over a fixed four-day period, credited automatically.

The Scale of the Moment

SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share Thursday, raising $75 billion in what was already the largest IPO in Wall Street history before a single share traded publicly. The offering attracted more than $250 billion in investor demand, running four times oversubscribed. Anyone who received an allocation at the IPO price was sitting on approximately 19% gains before markets opened Friday morning.