SpaceX set for record IPO

What happened

Elon Musk’s SpaceX makes its stock market debut on the Nasdaq on Friday after selling 555.6 million shares at $135 each. The roughly $75 billion initial public offering (IPO) is the largest ever and values SpaceX at $1.77 trillion. If the share price rises slightly after trading begins, Musk, who is “already the world’s richest man, could become its first trillionaire,” at least on paper, The Associated Press said.

Who said what

“Like all things Musk, SpaceX’s IPO bucked the norms,” starting with its fixed $135 share price rather than a range that would let the market help determine the optimal price, The Wall Street Journal said. Musk will also “hold the majority of a special class of shares, giving him control over decisions related to company strategy, finances and personnel,” the AP said. Part of SpaceX’s sky-high valuation, and “Musk’s future compensation, depends on SpaceX eventually establishing a colony of at least 1 million people” on Mars.

What next?

“Musk and his investment bankers” are selling lofty propositions “about what the rocket and artificial intelligence company will achieve,” The New York Times said. But some analysts are “concerned with SpaceX’s finances,” and Musk’s “history of overpromising” has some investors “increasingly worried” that SpaceX “may burn them.”

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