SpaceX’s Record IPO Is Said to Draw Over $350 Billion in Demand

SpaceX’s historic $75 billion IPO drew more than $350 billion in demand from institutions and retail investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

The largest ever initial public offering saw institutional investors place orders for more than $250 billion of stock, the people said. The company sold 555.6 million shares at $135 each in a deal that values it at roughly $1.8 trillion.

About 70% of the shares sold to institutions were allocated to so-called long-only investors in addition to sovereign wealth funds, the people said. BlackRock Inc. sought to buy about $5 billion in the IPO while Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Kuwait Investment Authority placed orders for shares worth $1 billion to $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported.

Institutional investors that participate in IPOs typically include asset managers and hedge funds. Within that group, investors such as mutual funds pursuing a strategy of buying stock and holding it for the medium-to-long term are often prized, as they are seen as unlikely to sell immediately and expected to support the company over time.

Among the firms that placed orders, close to one-third of them didn’t receive any stock, some of the people said.

The company allocated about 20% of the available shares to individual investors, the people said. Placing roughly $15 billion of stock with this group reflects how the cohort has grown in importance to the market. Individuals submitted more than $100 billion in orders, people familiar with the matter have said .

The $100 billion-plus figure includes domestic and international retail demand, a person familiar with the matter has said. A representative for SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Leaving large numbers of Elon Musk’s fans with few shares in the IPO, or none, would likely amplify demand for the stock once it begins trading. Musk has attracted a strong following throughout his tenure leading Tesla Inc., with retail owning about 40% of the company’s shares, according to BNP Paribas analyst James Picariello’s estimates.

“I’m a huge fan of small retail investors,” Musk posted in 2020 on X, known at the time as Twitter, saying at the time that SpaceX would likely do an IPO for Starlink. “Will make sure they get top priority. You can hold me to it,” he said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. led the deal with 18 other banks participating. The company formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. will debut on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas Friday under the symbol SPCX.