From 2 Weks Ago

The question was never whether SpaceX would go public, but rather when it would. In the beginning of December, Elon Musk answered that question—sort of. Musk said it would be in mid or late 2026.

Why is an IPO (initial public offering) that won’t happen for at least a half year—and possibly much more than that—already generating an incredible amount of excitement? There are several reasons, but let’s focus on two of them. The first is that Elon Musk is deeply involved. The second is that the offering is expected to generate a record amount of money. And it may also lead to the creation of new companies and technologies.

The first reason is very easy to understand. Musk is arguably the smartest person in the secular world, and everything he touches turns to gold. In fact, his fortune is not only increasing but growing by leaps and bounds, and in mid-December he became the first person to have a net worth of $600 billion.

Musk founded and built Tesla, an upstart auto company that challenged and outmaneuvered the largest auto companies in the world and beat them at their own game. Musk’s skills pushed Tesla’s valuation so high that it now far exceeds those of Toyota and Volkswagen. Early in his career, Musk helped develop PayPal, the online payment system that enables users to send, receive, and manage money electronically. And with SpaceX, he defied the experts, literally doing what they said was impossible and racing to the front of a giant new industry.

 

Reaching For The Stars

SpaceX came on the scene roughly 24 years ago and during this time has become the largest and most important aerospace company in the world. It has revolutionized the space industry by making rockets reusable, a breakthrough so complicated that it was long thought impossible. This advance has dramatically lowered the cost of launching rockets and of space exploration, dramatically increasing potential opportunities for space travel, space tourism, and even same-day shipping to countries on the other side of the world.

These and related technologies will also reduce the costs of missions to the Moon and Mars, make ambitious scientific experiments more affordable, and accelerate our understanding of how to benefit from the wonders and mysteries of space.

According to Yahoo Finance, “SpaceX has the largest satellite constellation through Starlink.” And according to Elon Musk, “SpaceX has way more satellites in orbit than the rest of the world combined.” In addition, SpaceX’s résumé also boasts a very impressive and growing list of “firsts” in the space industry, putting it ahead of the competition in those categories as well.

All of this means SpaceX is not your garden-variety IPO, nor is it your garden-variety high-tech firm, because its technological capabilities are unique and far ahead of the pack. That’s why when the company sells its shares, they likely will be fully priced. Despite that, it’s a good bet that investors and speculators will be eager to jump through hoops and stand in line to buy them.

The impact from the SpaceX IPO will likely be felt all along Wall Street. And the excitement it generates could very well boost the share prices of other space and high-tech firms and even encourage other highly regarded privately held companies to go public.

 

Numero Uno

According to AI Overview, the SpaceX IPO in 2026 could give the company a valuation of $1.5 trillion. In addition, “The estimated $30 billion it would raise would be a massive infusion of cash for Starship, Starlink, and AI initiatives.”

A report on Bloomberg said that the offering could do even better, raising more than $40 billion. If so, that would make this the largest offering in history by a wide margin, far in excess of the Saudi Aramco 2019 deal, which is the current leader. Musk owns approximately 42% of SpaceX. According to Yahoo Finance, several investment funds also own shares, as does tech giant Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

Why is SpaceX planning to go public? “The answer is pretty straightforward,” Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the global news agency AFP. Colonizing Mars is more important to Musk than achieving any other objective. It’s very possible that he wants to accelerate the timetable for doing that, and the hefty proceeds that an IPO would generate would help him reach that goal, Swope believes.

The space industry is capital intensive; building a rocket ship is not just incredibly complicated, it’s also incredibly expensive. SpaceX is in the process of building Starship, the largest rocket ever built, to use on missions to the Moon and Mars. The company will also build space-based data centers for AI. Obviously, realizing these and other ambitious plans is very expensive, and the liquidity from an IPO would greatly help make them possible.

 

Revenues Soar

Even without revenues from any additional products, SpaceX is already enjoying strong growth. According to a report on Zero Hedge, “SpaceX’s revenues are about $15 billion this year and are forecasted to climb to $22–$24 billion in 2026… with most of that growth coming from Starlink.”

The company’s mini-dish offering has been a major hit with consumers. Yahoo Finance reports that Starlink now has over 8 million customers, up from 7 million in August 2025 and 6 million in June 2025. “And it has been adding a record 14,250 new customers on average per day since they hit 7 million, beating their previous record of 12,200. That growth rate is 17% higher than it was just two months ago.” About two weeks ago, Musk wrote on X that SpaceX has been cash-flow positive for many years.

There’s a lot more good news coming out of SpaceX, too, but most certainly, the project Musk is most concerned about is colonizing Mars, a lifelong dream. When SpaceX was founded, journeys into space and colonizing Mars were ideas that existed only in science fiction. Since then, technology has made enormous strides, and those objectives are gradually becoming realities.

There’s no question that there are very few companies as exciting as SpaceX. The question investors need to answer now is whether buying its shares is worth any price.

Sources: AI Overview; bloomberg.com; yahoofinance.com; zerohedge.com.

Rabbi Dovid Hoffman is the author of the popular “Torah Tavlin” book series, filled with stories, wit and hundreds of divrei Torah, including the brand new “Torah Tavlin Yamim Noraim” in stores everywhere. You’ll love this popular series. Also look for his book, “Heroes of Spirit,” containing one hundred fascinating stories on the Holocaust. They are fantastic gifts, available in all Judaica bookstores and online at http://israelbookshoppublications.com. To receive Rabbi Hoffman’s weekly “Torah Tavlin” sheet on the parsha, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.