How Elon Musk rewrote SpaceX’s story—and turned it into the greatest IPO debut in history

It’s hard to believe that only a few months ago, SpaceX was primarily an enterprise that manufactured rockets, managed launches, and deployed a satellite constellation for servicing mobile phone and broadband purveyors. But in February, Elon Musk folded xAI, another arm of his empire, into SpaceX, and his entire narrative about the prime force for driving the enterprise’s rise took a pivot heard round the world. Suddenly, Musk was overwhelmingly wagering SpaceX’s future not on its two legacy franchises, but on AI.

The IPO on June 12 was a crucial test of whether the world would buy his new, epic vision, or not. A big jump over the offer price of $135 would show a ringing endorsement, while a dive would signal that folks and funds just weren’t buying Musk’s futuristic promises for the likes of super-low-cost orbital data centers powered by the sun. Around noon, we got the answer: SpaceX shares shot higher at the open, and closed at $160. a 19% jump. By day’s end the market cap notched an incredible $2.2. trillion, easily becoming the biggest U.S. IPO of all time, easily eclipsing number two Alibaba (2014) by ten-fold. Hence, investors are proving true believers, they’re all-in on Musk promises not only that AI will prove an absolutely colossal market, but effectively that he’ll capture a lot more of it than a roster of mega-rivals........

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