SpaceX raised $75 billion in the largest IPO in history. Japanese retail investors got $2.2 billion of it.

SpaceX begins trading on Nasdaq today under the ticker SPCX after raising $75 billion in the largest initial public offering ever completed. The previous record holder, Saudi Aramco’s 2019 listing, raised $29.4 billion, making SpaceX’s offering roughly 2.5 times larger.

A regulatory filing on Friday confirmed that Japanese investors accounted for $2.2 billion of the total, purchasing 16.3 million Class A shares, or about 3% of the offering. Japan was one of a handful of countries outside the United States, alongside Australia, Canada, and parts of Europe, where retail buyers had direct access to the shares.

How the Japan tranche worked

Mizuho Financial Group’s US investment banking unit is one of 23 underwriters on the deal. It ran the Japanese allocation through its local brokerage and two online platforms, Rakuten Securities and SBI Securities.

SpaceX initially targeted $2 billion from Japanese investors but raised the ceiling to $2.5 billion after demand surged. The final $2.2 billion makes it the largest first-time share sale in Japan since JX Advanced Metals’ IPO last year.

The global picture

Total investor demand reached approximately $250 billion, making the offering nearly four times oversubscribed. BlackRock alone reportedly placed a $5 billion order. Goldman Sachs led the 23-bank underwriting syndicate, with Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase among the book-running managers.

At the $135 per share price, SpaceX’s fully diluted valuation sits at approximately $1.77 trillion, making it the seventh-largest listed company in the United States, above Tesla’s market capitalisation of roughly $1.6 trillion. If underwriters exercise the full over-allotment option, total proceeds could reach $86.25 billion.

What SpaceX actually is now

SpaceX is no longer just a rocket company. After absorbing Elon Musk’s AI venture xAI in an all-stock transaction in February 2026, it became a conglomerate spanning reusable rockets, satellite internet, and artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Its S-1 filing disclosed $18 billion in consolidated revenue for 2025, alongside a net loss of $4.9 billion. Starlink, the satellite internet division, generated $11.4 billion in revenue and $4.4 billion in operating profit, accounting for 61% of total sales and all of the company’s profitability. The xAI segment recorded a $6.35 billion operating loss.

Musk’s grip on voting power

Musk holds approximately 42% of SpaceX’s equity but controls roughly 82% of its votes through a dual-class share structure in which his Class B shares carry disproportionate voting rights. That gives him unilateral authority to elect or remove a majority of the board.

The S-1 prospectus lists 849.5 million Class A shares and 5.57 billion Class B shares, a structure that ensures public shareholders have minimal governance influence regardless of their economic stake.

Who gets rich

The IPO is expected to mint roughly 4,000 millionaires among SpaceX’s workforce, including engineers, cooks, and administrative staff who received equity as part of their compensation. SpaceX set aside up to 5% of shares for employees and their associates.

Founded in 2002, SpaceX spent two decades as a private company, funding its operations through government contracts, private equity rounds, and Starlink revenue. The IPO marks the first time ordinary investors can buy shares directly.

The flags

SpaceX is unprofitable on a GAAP basis, with the xAI segment responsible for the $4.9 billion net loss. Whether Starlink’s profits can scale fast enough to offset xAI’s capital consumption is unresolved.

Musk’s 82% voting control means public shareholders are effectively along for the ride on all strategic decisions, including future acquisitions and capital allocation. The $1.77 trillion valuation implies growth rates no company has ever sustained at this scale, as Fortune has noted, and the xAI integration adds execution risk that did not exist when SpaceX was purely a launch and satellite business.