SpaceX has raised its target IPO valuation above $2 trillion, according to Bloomberg, a figure that would make Elon Musk's rocket company larger than every publicly traded firm on Earth except Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, and Alphabet. [1] The offering could raise as much as $75 billion, dwarfing Alibaba's $22 billion record from 2014. [2]

The valuation follows the company's merger with xAI, Musk's artificial intelligence venture, which combined two of his most capital-intensive businesses under a single corporate umbrella. The merger added xAI's inference infrastructure and Grok model development to SpaceX's existing revenue streams from Starlink satellite internet, government launch contracts, and the nascent Starship program.

At $2 trillion, SpaceX would trade at roughly 125 times its 2025 revenue of $16 billion -- a multiple that makes even the most generous Silicon Valley comparisons look modest. [2] Tesla, Musk's other public company, trades at approximately 15 times revenue. The gap reflects investor conviction that Starlink's subscriber base, already the dominant satellite internet provider globally, will generate recurring revenue at software-like margins.

The IPO filing remains confidential. Bankers have begun pitching institutional investors on the offering, which could come as early as the second half of 2026. [1] If completed at the target valuation, it would make Musk -- already the world's wealthiest person -- substantially richer, given his estimated 42 percent stake in the combined entity.

The market is betting that space is the next platform. The price tag says more about faith than physics.

-- THEO KAPLAN, San Francisco