NEW YORK: Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocketed toward Wall Street on Wednesday (May 20), filing plans for what could become the largest initial public offering in history as the company reportedly seeks to raise up to US$75 billion on the public markets.
If successful, the listing of the rocket and satellite giant would dwarf any IPO in history and cement Musk’s status as one of the most consequential entrepreneurs of his generation.
US media reports say SpaceX is hoping to raise US$75 billion and win a valuation of as much as US$1.75 trillion when it begins trading as early as next month.
The filing of the S-1 prospectus – a document companies are required to present to the SEC before listing on a public stock exchange, providing potential investors with detailed financial information, possible risks and business strategy – marked the first time SpaceX has publicly disclosed detailed financials in its 24-year history.
It revealed that the company generated US$18.7 billion in revenue in 2025 and posted an operating loss of US$2.6 billion as it poured money into next-generation rocket development and artificial intelligence.
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet business is the clear financial engine of the company, generating US$11.4 billion in revenue in 2025, up nearly 50 per cent year-on-year.
The AI segment, which includes xAI and the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), recorded US$3.2 billion in revenue for the full year 2025 but posted an operating loss of US$6.4 billion as the company raced to build out AI training data centers.
Capital expenditure for the segment alone reached US$12.7 billion in 2025 and US$7.7 billion in just the first quarter of 2026 – reflecting the enormous sums necessary to keep pace in the AI race against deep-pocketed rivals including Google, Meta and Amazon.
SpaceX also disclosed it had struck a deal to rent out spare capacity at its COLOSSUS and COLOSSUS II data centres to rival AI firm Anthropic for US$1.25 billion per month through May 2029.
The filing comes just days after Musk suffered a significant legal setback in his bitter feud with OpenAI, a direct competitor also racing toward a public listing.
With Anthropic eyeing its own IPO as well, 2026 could prove one of the most momentous years on Wall Street in recent memory.