Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to begin trading on Friday after pulling off the largest IPO in history, with investor demand reportedly topping $250bn (£186bn) and early trading indications pointing to a big first-day jump.

The aerospace and AI giant raised $75bn at a fixed price of $135 per share, giving the company a valuation of around $1.8tn and instantly placing it among the world’s most valuable listed firms.

Reuters reported orders exceeded $250bn, leaving the offering between three-and-a-half and four times oversubscribed as institutions and retail investors scrambled for allocations.

Unlike a traditional IPO, Musk opted against offering a pricing range and instead set a take-it-or-leave-it valuation from the outset. Investors overwhelmingly chose to buy in.

The strength of demand has already fuelled expectations of a strong market debut. Bloomberg reported shares were indicated more than 35 per cent higher in shadow trading overnight, which would push SpaceX’s valuation comfortably above the $2 trillion mark.

The listing comes at a pivotal moment for public markets, with investors increasingly searching for exposure to artificial intelligence infrastructure and next-generation technology companies.

SpaceX’s IPO materials highlighted Starlink and plans for space-based data centres as key future growth drivers, arguing it is uniquely positioned to tackle the energy and computing constraints facing the AI industry.

Investors back Musk despite valuation woes

David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said investors were making “a big bet” on xAI, which remains heavily loss-making despite commanding a huge share of the group’s overall valuation.

“Looking at Starlink and SpaceX’s launch business, it’s clear to see that these are profitable businesses,” Morrison said.

“But xAI is not. If you strip out Starlink and launch from the expected valuation, then you’re left with xAI being worth around $1tn on its own. That’s a big bet on xAI getting a durable competitive advantage over the competition in the coming years.”

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the valuation relies on investors believing ambitious forecasts that see revenues rising dramatically over the coming years.

“This valuation is built on faith and trust in Elon Musk’s vision,” Brooks said. “The risk is that these revenue projections are over optimistic. Overall, this IPO requires investors to believe that Musk’s ideas will come to life.”

Yet analysts also acknowledge that conventional valuation metrics may matter less in the short term than investor enthusiasm.

Many see the listing as a test case for the next generation of AI-focused public companies, with OpenAI and Anthropic both expected to explore stock market listings in the years ahead.

As Morrison noted, “many buyers are there because of Elon Musk” – and it seems like Wall Street is about to find out how much that premium is worth.