SpaceX’s upcoming IPO, valued at a staggering $1.77 trillion, is set to offer 555.6 million shares at a proposed price of $135 each. Thanks to recently updated index inclusion rules from major providers like Nasdaq and FTSE Russell, SpaceX won’t just be available to buy on the open market. It will be essentially mandatory for the index funds that millions of Americans already hold in their 401(k)s and IRAs.

How fast-entry rules changed the game

Nasdaq updated its fast-entry rules in May 2026, and FTSE Russell established a 5-trading-day inclusion standard for significant new IPOs. S&P Dow Jones is reportedly considering similar changes to its own index inclusion rules.

A company like SpaceX can now join the indices that passive funds track within 5 to 15 trading days of its stock market debut. Funds like Vanguard’s VTI (which tracks the total US stock market) and QQQ (which tracks the Nasdaq-100) would be required to purchase SpaceX shares almost immediately after the IPO to stay aligned with their benchmark indices. When those funds buy, every investor who holds shares in those funds, often through retirement accounts, becomes an indirect SpaceX owner.

Roughly 60% of Americans currently own retirement accounts.

From private rocket company to retirement portfolio staple

SpaceX has operated as a private company under Musk’s control for over two decades, offering limited liquidity to early investors through occasional tender offers and secondary market sales. A select number of self-directed Roth IRAs managed to acquire private SpaceX equity through secondary market avenues, but those were the exception, not the rule.

Critics argue the rule changes conveniently serve as a strategic exit mechanism for company insiders, allowing early investors and employees to sell into a wave of mandatory index fund buying. Proponents counter that excluding a $1.77 trillion company from benchmark indices would create a distortion, given that the indices are supposed to reflect the actual market.

What this means for investors

Retirement account holders will not have direct ownership of SpaceX stock. Instead, the index funds and ETFs within retirement plans will rebalance to include SpaceX shares, with exposure proportional to SpaceX’s weight in whatever index a given fund tracks.

Historically, index providers imposed seasoning periods of 1 to 2 years before newly public companies could join benchmarks. The new fast-entry framework eliminates that waiting period for large IPOs, meaning future mega-IPOs will follow the same pattern of near-instant inclusion in indices that passive money flows into automatically.