Goldman’s Waldron Says SpaceX Shows Investor Zeal for Funding AI

SpaceX’s record-setting initial public offering shows investors are eager to finance artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President John Waldron.

“It shows you that the capital markets — led by the US capital markets, but the global capital markets — are demonstrating a willingness to finance this AI infrastructure build and this build in space,” Waldron said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Friday. Waldron also pointed to Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s recent $84.75 billion equity raise to be spent on AI.

SpaceX, officially known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., raised $75 billion on Thursday, marking the largest IPO in history. Shares are set to debut today on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the symbol SPCX.

It’s going to be a “very good day,” Waldron said. Goldman Sachs is leading the IPO, alongside Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. There are 18 other banks participating in the sale in various roles.

SpaceX also “presages the beginning of a pretty sizable wave of IPOs, which we are excited about,” Waldron said.

Investors and banks are also preparing for mega-listings for Anthropic PBC and OpenAI, both of which could come this year. When asked whether the market could absorb two other large public offerings, Waldron said the firm wasn’t concerned about overall dynamics.

For SpaceX, there’s expected to be a deluge of interest from retail investors. Individuals are said to have submitted more than $100 billion in orders ahead of the debut, Bloomberg has reported , well exceeding the at least 20% of shares available to them.

Waldron said “plenty of options” have been put in place for retail investors to get in on the IPO, adding he’s not “worried” about that dynamic.

Outside of the IPO market, Waldron said 2026 is likely to be a record year for mergers and acquisitions. Globally, M&A volumes have hit $3.1 trillion, up 35.2% from a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.