SpaceX: How Wall Street pulled off the biggest IPO in history for SpaceX

Bankers convinced investors to believe in a sci-fi strategy, overlook steep losses and hand full control to Elon Musk

15. Juni 2026 um 14:15 Uhr / Von Stephen Morris, Ryan McMorrow und George Hammond, Financial Times

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, displayed on a screen remotely from SpaceX headquarters in Starbase, Texas, speaks before the launch of SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on June 12, 2026. Bild: Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images

Until well after midnight on Wednesday, bankers huddled in a room on the 41st floor of Goldman Sachs' New York office portioning out the most sought-after initial public offering in history.

With Elon Musk looming over proceedings by video, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and chief financial officer Bret Johnsen combed through orders at the top of the book, reallocating oversubscribed shares among Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and the biggest US institutions.