2 min readUpdated: Jun 12, 2026 09:45 PM IST

Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday after SpaceX shares surged in their highly anticipated Nasdaq debut, extending gains beyond their record-breaking IPO price.

SpaceX shares began trading just before noon Eastern Time at around $150 apiece, well above their $135 listing price, before quickly climbing to $160, according to market data. At that level, the stock was trading about 18 per cent higher than its IPO price.

The rally cemented Musk’s status as the world’s first trillionaire, underscoring the extraordinary investor appetite for companies tied to the billionaire entrepreneur’s ambitions in space, artificial intelligence and frontier technologies.

The strong debut also reinforced expectations that SpaceX’s blockbuster listing could usher in a new era of mega IPOs, with investors closely watching potential future offerings from AI heavyweights such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Why this matters

SpaceX’s first-day surge suggests that Wall Street remains willing to assign enormous valuations to companies built around transformative visions, even in the absence of traditional profitability metrics. The market’s response is likely to shape how upcoming technology giants price their own public offerings and how investors value innovation-led businesses in the years ahead.

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