SpaceX went public on June 12, 2026, and markets responded like they’d been waiting for this for years. The Hawthorne, California-based aerospace company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX at a valuation of $1.77 trillion, the largest IPO by that measure in history.

By the close of its first trading day, shares had jumped 19% to around $161, pushing the market cap to approximately $2.1 trillion. That put SpaceX at sixth on the list of most valuable U.S. companies, on day one.

How SpaceX leapfrogged Meta

The rally didn’t stop at the opening bell. Post-IPO momentum carried SpaceX’s market cap to a peak of around $2.4 trillion, a number that flew past Meta Platforms’ valuation of approximately $1.45 trillion at the time.

Broadcom and Tesla also fell below SpaceX in the rankings.

During intraday trading sessions, SpaceX’s market cap briefly approached the $3 trillion mark.

Elon Musk becomes the first dollar trillionaire

The IPO had a notable side effect. Elon Musk, who retained a significant ownership stake in SpaceX, crossed a threshold that no one had crossed before: a net worth exceeding $1 trillion in U.S. dollar terms.

That milestone arrived directly on the back of the SPCX valuation surge. Musk’s wealth had fluctuated dramatically in prior years, largely tied to Tesla’s volatile stock price and his acquisition of X, formerly Twitter. SpaceX’s public debut gave him a new, massive anchor for his net worth, and the markets moved it past the trillion-dollar mark.

SpaceX’s business spans orbital launches, Starlink satellite internet, the Starship program, and government contracts with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense.