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SpaceX shares surged 19% on debut, yet history shows many high-profile IPOs struggle after the initial excitement fades.

SpaceX logo as an employe looks at his phone while making his way to work at the company’s facility on the day of the SpaceX IPO, in Hawthorne, California, U.S. June 12, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesSEOUL, June 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's Mirae Asset Securities (006800.KS), opens new tab apologized to investors on Monday for failing to secure an allocation of SpaceX shares from the U.S. company’s initial public ​offering, adding that it would consider financial compensation for those affected.

In a ‌letter to clients reviewed by Reuters, Mirae Asset Securities co-CEOs Kim Mi-seob and Heo Sun-ho said that despite being qualified to offer SpaceX shares to Korean investors, the brokerage, one of the underwriters ​for the SpaceX IPO, was ultimately left out of the final allocation ​by the U.S. lead underwriter.

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On Friday, SpaceX's stock market debut sent the ⁠company's value past $2 trillion, turning Elon Musk into the world's first trillionaire.

Earlier this month, ​the brokerage collected deposits worth $500 million from investors participating in a private placement. The ​offering's two tranches sold out within a few minutes, according to a person familiar with the matter.

"We made every effort until the very end to secure an allocation of shares. However, due to ​the discretionary final decision made by the lead underwriter in the United States, no ​shares were ultimately allocated to us," according to the letter. It said it was investigating the circumstances ‌surrounding ⁠the decision.

"We are deeply disappointed and sincerely sorry to all customers who placed their trust in Mirae Asset Securities and participated in this offering."

The letter did not disclose the identity of the lead underwriter. Banks involved in the SpaceX IPO, including Goldman Sachs (GS.N), opens new tab, ​Morgan Stanley (MS.N), opens new tab, Bank of ​America (BAC.N), opens new tab and JPMorgan ⁠Chase (JPM.N), opens new tab, did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of Asian working hours, while Citigroup (C.N), opens new tab declined to comment.

Investors who exchanged their ​funds into U.S. dollars to pay for the subscription deposits ​still had ⁠to cover exchange fees and absorb the impact of recent exchange rate fluctuations, according to Korea Economic Daily TV.

Yonhap News Agency reported on Sunday that South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service ⁠was investigating ​the circumstances surrounding the allocation failure. It was ​planning to scrutinize investor protection measures, including whether Mirae Asset sufficiently informed investors about the risk of the ​allocation falling through, the report said.

Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Yatoultra Ngui Editing by Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

SpaceX made its debut at the Nasdaq on Friday, climbing more than 19% on its first day of trading and rising above a $2 trillion market valuation. But while the arrival of the company to public markets is squared away, some of its other long-term plans are years in the future.

Elon Musk's company in its initial public offering prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission repeatedly focused on the "Moon, Mars and beyond." The company's goal for Mars is so large that Musk won't get a bonus of restricted shares unless SpaceX establishes a colony on the planet with more than 1 million inhabitants. 

But when that will happen is years from now, traders on prediction market platform Kalshi think.

Traders see just an 18% chance that SpaceX launches a human mission to Mars by 2030. Since the event contract first launched in March 2024, traders have never seen more than one-in-four odds of the mission happening this decade. 

The event contract will resolve to yes if SpaceX verifies a manned mission to Mars by Dec. 31, 2029. 

Traders' uncertainty mirrors SpaceX's own plans. In its prospectus, SpaceX made clear it doesn't have a vision for when a Mars mission may happen. 

"Many of our initiatives… involve significant technical complexity, unproven technologies or technologies that do not exist, and such initiatives may not achieve commercial viability," SpaceX said. "As a result, the timeline for certain of our initiatives involving unproven or new innovations ... may be difficult or impossible to determine."

But while an exact timeline may be unknown, the company's focus on Mars is clear. The planet was mentioned 63 times in the prospectus itself, and once in a photo caption featured in the document.

Following commercial space flight giant Space Exploration Technologies Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:SPCX) successful IPO, CEO Elon Musk thinks it may be time to make good on a promise from 2015.

Elon Musk Wants Volcanic LairIn a post on X on Sunday, Musk quoted a post he made in 2015 as SpaceX was trying to land the Falcon 9 rocket upright, which the company eventually did in December 2015. “If this works, I’m treating myself to a volcano lair. It’s time,” Musk said in the post.

“Time to get that volcano lair I've always wanted,” Musk said, sarcastically saying that there were options “in the "Beyond" section” Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (NYSE:BBBY).

SpaceX IPO Makes Elon Musk A TrillionaireSpaceX closed its first session at $160.95, up 19%, leading to a valuation of $2.1 trillion for the company. SpaceX was already worth more than 12 aerospace and defense companies listed on the S&P 500 index.

SpaceX IPO Draws CriticismThe milestone was also criticized by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who said that Americans were "struggling" to get everyday goods and gas, while Musk became a trillionaire.

Price Action: SpaceX shares were up 3.67% to $166.85 during the after-hours trading session on Friday.

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Scott Morton, standing in the brown jacket on the right, said wealth managers reached out to him before SpaceX's IPO. Revel Scott Morton grew up in Wisconsin. He wasn't tracking Wall Street.

"My family was not super financially literate," he said. "I didn't hear about the stock market growing up."

Now, the money managers have found him.

Morton, the founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based software company Revel, said he has been getting the hard pitch from wealth managers eager to court him ahead of SpaceX's blockbuster initial public offering. In the past couple of months, a prominent firm sent a handwritten letter to his home asking to represent him, while another sent swag and a backpack. More have slid into his LinkedIn DMs.

The wooing attempts are all because he worked at SpaceX for nearly a decade.

Morton — who started as a SpaceX intern before rising to a software engineering manager on its Starship spacecraft project — is part of a class of current and former workers at Elon Musk's rocket company who were paid partly in equity.

That equity is now a hot commodity. SpaceX went public Friday in the largest IPO in history, with its valuation surging above $2 trillion in early trading.

"It's a tremendous outcome, specifically for all of the engineers, technicians, and even the baristas," he told Business Insider before the IPO. "Now all of the hard work is going to pay off for a lot of people."

IPOs and their mafia-making influenceThere is power in being early to a company.

Famously, David Choe, a graffiti artist commissioned in 2005 by Facebook to paint murals at its headquarters, asked to be paid in stock instead of the $60,000 he was offered for the job. When the company went public years later, those shares were valued at $200 million, CNBC reported.

PayPal created its own mythology. The company's 2002 IPO and eventual $1.5 billion sale to eBay helped launch the careers of tech power players now known as the PayPal mafia, including Musk, Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman, and David Sacks.

Morton said SpaceX is generating a similar movement among former staff, who are using their money, experience, and networks to build companies of their own.

"It's already happening," he said. "The mafia is already there."

Fast cars, financial freedom, shooting stars

Morton said the SpaceX IPO could become a mafia-making event, like PayPal's 2002 IPO and sale.  IPO Morton said he still holds SpaceX stock. He said he previously sold some through SpaceX-organized secondary sales, but retained as much as he could. He declined to discuss the specific size of his potential payday.

Other former SpaceX employees have been joking about early plans for their newfound cash, Morton said, including "fast cars" and what the IPO could mean for the Los Angeles high-end housing market.

Morton said he hadn't planned any large celebration for IPO day. He has been too focused on his own startup, he said.

Revel builds software for controlling and testing hardware — the kind of behind-the-scenes infrastructure used in rocket engine test sites, nuclear reactors, industrial systems, and other places where tech and the physical world collide. The company said in February that it had raised $150 million in Series B funding.

Morton said the SpaceX IPO could also give companies like his a halo effect: more attention on hard tech, more investor interest, and more credibility for startups founded by SpaceX alums.

Still, he said he does not expect the IPO to trigger a mass exodus from SpaceX. Many employees he's kept in touch with remain committed to the company's mission — especially the goal of establishing a moon base, he said.

For former employees, the IPO is an opportunity to go on a bit of a spending spree.

"It generically sets people up to have financial freedom," he said. "People will feel like they have the buffer they need to do something adventurous."

For the ones like Morton, they'll have a wealth-manager-branded backpack to take on that adventure.

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Ben Shimkus You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Ben Shimkus is a reporter for the Business News desk. He writes about cars, transportation, retail, and jobs. Ben's reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Verge, Automotive News, USA Today, AutoBody News, LGBTQ Nation, TopSpeed, and Out Magazine. He's also held staff writing positions at The U.S. Sun and the Daily Mail. He graduated from NYU with a Master's in journalism in 2024. Email Ben at [email protected] or message him privately on Signal at bshimkus.41. 

SpaceX Elon Musk Wealth More Finance IPO Stocks

The broader market rally gives the rocket and AI company's shares a boost, following a stellar trading debut last week.

Item 1 of 2 A live feed shows SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on the day of SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York City, U.S., June 12, 2026. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

[1/2]A live feed shows SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on the day of SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO) at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York City, U.S., June 12, 2026. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SummaryCompaniesUpcoming events include options trading, index inclusionAlso upcoming is expiration of investor holding periodsAnalysts debate SpaceX valuationThey cite volatility and Elon Musk's influenceNEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - The SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab IPO went off with a bang. Now investors turn their attention to a jam-packed calendar ahead for Elon Musk's rocket, internet and AI firm that may bring volatility.

Just in the next ​two months, the sixth-largest U.S. listed company by market value will have a handful of events – ranging from the listing of options to the expiration of investor holding ‌periods to index inclusion – that could help dictate trading in its shares and the broader market.

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Friday's launch of the largest-ever IPO was well managed from start to finish, investors said, drawing strong orders from retail and institutions alike and benefiting from Musk's reputation for the Midas touch. But debate continues over what the right price for the stock is and to what extent SpaceX's savvy marketing matches with its fundamentals.

"You have to look at it ​this way: are people actually investing in SpaceX or trading SpaceX? I am of the belief, and this is also other money managers that I'm talking to, that it's ​the latter," said Todd Schoenberger, chief investment officer at Crosscheck Management in Washington, D.C.

A bubble chart showing the relative size of the biggest IPOs in the U.S. and their earnings at the time of debutHere are some events that could help shape that argument over ⁠coming weeks:

OPTIONS TRADINGOptions on SpaceX are set to begin trading as soon as Tuesday, with early activity expected to be heavy, volatile and likely expensive.

Options, which give holders the right but not the ​obligation to buy or sell shares at a predetermined price within a certain period, offer investors a low-cost way to play a company's stock. If SpaceX behaves like Musk's Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab, it would be ​almost twice as volatile as the average stock, likely driving heavy options activity.

STOCK SALE RESTRICTIONS ENDSpaceX plans to allow a large portion of its shares to become eligible for resale before the usual six-month restriction period post-IPO, under a staged system linked to the company's performance, a company filing showed.

The approach, designed to avoid a large wave of shares hitting the market at once, helps make post-IPO trading more orderly - but at the cost of ​potential volatility spread across the six-month period rather than a single day. Some brokers are also imposing holding periods for shares acquired on Friday.

"We got shares of SpaceX for some of our ​clients (on Friday), and there's a 31-day minimum holding period," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "So I think once some of those minimum holding periods end, you could see some ‌selling pressure."

THE ⁠GREEN SHOEThe IPO includes a so-called greenshoe option, a standard feature of most large U.S. stock market listings that acts like a safety valve that keeps the stock price from going crazy one way or another in its first month.

SpaceX gave Morgan Stanley (MS.N), opens new tab the option to purchase an additional 15% of its stock at the IPO price of $135 a share for up to 30 days – or about 83 million in additional shares on top of the 555.6 million SpaceX already sold.

Those additional shares, however, have not yet been issued by the company, so the bank has to effectively sell them ​on the open market through a short position ​and buy them from the company later.

Table on how the Greenshoe option work after the SpaceX IPOEARNINGSSpaceX ⁠has not set a date for its next earnings report but the event, expected in the next few months, will likely renew the discussion of whether a company with a $4.94 billion loss last year on $18.7 billion of revenue can justify a $2 trillion valuation.

"You can make a lot of arguments ​that SpaceX is severely overvalued. ... SpaceX is valued based on Elon Musk's reputation," Dollarhide said.

INDEX INCLUSIONThe company is due to be added this ​month to indexes such as ⁠the Nasdaq 100 and some MSCI and Russell indexes tracking large-cap stocks. Some funds will be required to buy, once that happens, and investors are expecting those additions to drive share-price gains.

A related debate centers on whether so-called passive investors appreciate the risks of these decisions and how that may play out for the indexes down the road.

"Most people will end up owning SpaceX without ever deciding to, through ⁠a Nasdaq or ​Russell fund, a target-date fund, or the index sleeve of their 401(k). That's the real democratization here," said Kevin ​Moss, co-creator of the Private Shares Fund. "A name that used to be walled off in private rounds shows up in mainstream retirement accounts. The flip side is you own it whether or not you have a view on the valuation."

Reporting by Caroline Valetkevich, Suzanne McGee and Shashwat Chauhan; Editing by Colin Barr and Will Dunham

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Tradr ETFs launched SPCM and SPCG, providing traders with 200% leveraged long and short exposure to SpaceX, one of the most anticipated IPOs in market history.

SPCM and SPCG give traders 200% bullish and bearish exposure to the most anticipated IPO in market history

, /PRNewswire/ -- Tradr ETFs, a provider of ETFs designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders, today announced the launch of two leveraged ETFs tied to SpaceX, offering traders access to both bullish and bearish leveraged exposure on the newly public company.

The new funds target the following daily investment results, before fees and expenses:

Active traders need tools that allow them to express either view with precision. Tradr 2X Long SpaceX Daily ETF (Cboe: SPCM) – seeks 200% of the daily performance of SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) Tradr 2X Short SpaceX Daily ETF (Cboe: SPCG) – seeks -200% of the daily performance of SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) "SpaceX is one of the most anticipated public offerings of our generation, and opinions on the stock are likely to be just as strong as those on the company," said Matt Markiewicz, Head of Product and Capital Markets at Tradr ETFs. "Some traders see a transformational business with enormous growth potential, while others see a stock that may face high expectations and significant valuation questions. We launched both SPCM and SPCG because active traders need tools that allow them to express either view with precision."

For detailed information on Tradr ETFs and the significant risks involved with leveraged ETFs, please visit www.tradretfs.com.

About Tradr ETFs
Tradr ETFs are designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders who are looking to express high conviction investment views. The strategies include leveraged and inverse ETFs that seek short or long exposure to actively traded stocks and ETFs.

IMPORTANT RISK INFORMATION

Tradr ETFs are for sophisticated investors and professional traders with high conviction views and are very different from most other ETFs. The Funds are intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles and pursue leveraged investment objectives, which means they are riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Funds magnify the performance of their underlying security. The volatility of the underlying security may affect a Fund's return as much as, or more than, the return of the underlying security.

Investors in the fund should: (a) understand the risks associated with the use of leverage; (b) understand the consequences of seeking inverse and leveraged investment results; (c) for short ETFs, understand the risk of shorting; (d) intend to actively monitor and manage their investment. Fund performance will likely be significantly different than the benchmark over periods longer than the specified reset period and the performance may trend in the opposite direction than its benchmark over periods other than that period.

Leverage increases the risk of a total loss of an investor's investment, may increase the volatility of the Funds, and may magnify any differences between the performance of the Funds and their reference security. The Funds seek leveraged investment results for a specific period (daily, monthly or quarterly). The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intra-period will depend upon the movement of the reference security from the end of the prior period until the time of investment by the investor.

The Fund will not attempt to position its portfolio to ensure it does not gain or lose more than a maximum percentage of its net asset value on a given trading day. As a consequence, investors in a Fund that seeks two times daily performance would lose all of their money if the Fund's underlying security moves more than 50% in a direction adverse to the Fund on a given trading day.

ETFs involve risk including possible loss of the full principal value. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Principal risks and other important risks may be found in the prospectus. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

ETF shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the ETF. There can be no guarantee that an active trading market for ETF shares will develop or be maintained, or that their listing will continue or remain unchanged. Buying or selling ETF shares on an exchange may require the payment of brokerage commissions and frequent trading may incur brokerage costs that detract significantly from investment returns.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Funds. This and other important information about the Fund is contained in the Prospectus, which can be obtained by visiting www.tradretfs.com. The Prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc, which is not affiliated with AXS Investments or its Tradr ETFs. AXI000961

SOURCE Tradr ETFs

SummaryCompaniesSmall investors can face bans from future IPOs for early resaleHedge funds that generate bank fees can flip with no penaltiesRetail investors get about 20% of SpaceX initial public listingNEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - Individual investors in the SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab IPO hoping to quickly sell their shares for a profit face stricter conditions than large funds over the ​practice known as flipping - and risk losing access to hot future listings such as OpenAI and Anthropic if they run afoul of these limits.

Platforms like ‌Fidelity, Robinhood, E*TRADE and SoFi restrict small investors from selling shares within 15 to 30 days of trading. Penalties range from temporary bans to participate in future IPOs to a permanent platform ban.

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That means penalties for those who were seeking to sell on Friday, when SpaceX rose as much as 30% in its debut before closing up 19% at $160.95.

To avoid penalties, investors may miss key windows of predicted demand in the first two ​weeks of trading, when major indexes can incorporate the stock.

Hedge funds and asset managers such as BlackRock and Citadel, which have easier access to IPO shares at the ​offer price, in some cases trade immediately to profit from the initial appreciation known as the “IPO pop.” Citadel and BlackRock did not immediately respond ⁠to a request for comment.

“It’s very common for brokerage firms to put restrictions on flipping for retail investors,” said IPO expert Jay Ritter of the University of Florida. “But if the hedge ​funds are profitable enough customers (for banks), they can do whatever they want."

The asymmetry between small investors and big funds is most visible in the SpaceX IPO, as retail participation is unusually high.

Retail ​investors ended up taking 20% in the IPO, hedge funds 10%, and institutional investors with a longer term holding strategy got 70%, a person close to the deal said.

For large funds, access to IPO allocations is driven less by market rules and more by the fees and trading business they generate for banks, Ritter says. They are typically judged case by case, with underwriters weighing the broader relationship rather than a single ​trade.

An asset manager who said they had received roughly a $300 million allocation in the offering, with no flipping restrictions, told Reuters on condition of anonymity they intend "to sell it straight ​into the open and return cash within five days,” taking advantage of demand by small investors.

For mom-and-pop investors, the trade-off is rigid: sell too soon and risk being shut out of future IPOs; wait too ‌long and ⁠risk missing the chance to lock in gains or hedge volatility.

RESTRICTIONSFidelity said clients must hold shares for 15 days, opens new tab, or face escalating penalties from a six‑month ban from future IPOs to a permanent ban tied to the account holder’s Social Security number.

Robinhood, opens new tab applies a 30‑day window with a flat two-month suspension. SoFi, opens new tab and E*TRADE, opens new tab also apply 30-day restrictions, with Sofi imposing a permanent ban after a third violation.

"Their entire trading account could be restricted," says Emil Barr, a 23-year-old entrepreneur who reserved $500,000 for the IPO. "It's a really deep penalizing system in which the punishment doesn't quite match the ​crime."

Barr said he accessed the IPO through ​JPMorgan’s private banking, a service typically limited ⁠to clients with more than $5 million in assets. He plans to hold the shares and is not subject to the restrictive rules.

The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority defines “flipping” as selling shares within 30 days after an IPO, but imposes no legal restrictions. Underwriters and brokerage platforms impose ​market restrictions on flipping because it can destabilize the stock.

Keeping long-term shareholders helps platforms like Robinhood secure more shares in future IPOs, ​as banks managing public offerings ⁠prefer to avoid volatility that could lead to a price drop.

PREDICTED EARLY DEMANDLarge IPOs can be added to stock indexes within two weeks of trading, triggering automatic buying by funds that track them.

For example, Vanguard’s Total Market funds, which track a CRSP index, can begin adding a newly listed company within five trading days, while other benchmarks such as the Nasdaq‑100 may include large IPOs two ⁠weeks after ​listing.

Those inclusions force index funds to buy shares regardless of price, creating predictable demand that larger investors can sell ​into.

At Fidelity, the faster to lift restrictions, clients can sell without being labeled flippers starting from day 16.

"I think the underwriting firms are using retail investors as cannon fodder because they have to hold the stock for 30 ​days," Barr said. "It's like a cushion to absorb some of the risk from how highly priced the stock is."

Reporting by Sabrina Valle and Echo Wang, in New York; Editing by Kim Coghill

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

NY-based correspondent reporting on some of the largest deals in Healthcare and Industrials. Previously based in Houston, covering global operations of U.S. oil majors. Sabrina has a two-decade career in Business reporting, with a strong background in source-based enterprise and investigations. She previously worked at Bloomberg, Washington Post and has been based in Rio and D.C. covering large corporations, including finance, corruption and geopolitics.

Echo Wang is a correspondent at Reuters covering U.S. equity capital markets, and the intersection of Chinese business in the U.S, breaking news from U.S. crackdown on TikTok and Grindr, to restrictions Chinese companies face in listing in New York. She was the Reuters' Reporter of the Year in 2020.

Hancock Prospecting Executive Chairman Gina Rinehart reacts during the Lest We Forget sunset tribute on the eve of ANZAC Day at Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, April 24, 2025.... Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more

MELBOURNE, June 15 (Reuters) - Australia's wealthiest person, mining baron Gina Rinehart, has taken a stake of more than $1 billion in the record-setting $75 billion SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab IPO, the Wall Street Journal reported on ​Monday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Rinehart's company Hancock Prospecting did not ‌confirm the size of its stake in Elon Musk's SpaceX. However, she said in a statement: "This is a significant investment for Hancock, and we are pleased to have received an allocation in what has been ​an extremely popular and oversubscribed IPO."

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She praised Musk for having built two of the ​world's top 10 largest companies.

“We see SpaceX as a rare business: led ⁠by a truly exceptional person, technically exceptional and operating in sectors that are crucial, and ​with long-term potential," said Rinehart, whose wealth was built on iron ore mined by her ​company, Hancock Prospecting.

Hancock, which is a significant investor in critical minerals projects, aims to work with SpaceX on supplying its mineral needs.

“In the future, we also see the possibility of mutually beneficial arrangements between SpaceX and ​Hancock Prospecting’s significant critical minerals investments, as demand grows for the materials and infrastructure needed ​to support advanced technology," Hancock CEO Garry Korte said in the statement.

Hancock is a significant investor in ‌a swathe ⁠of rare earths companies including U.S.-based MP Materials, and Rare Earths Americas (REA.A), opens new tab, and Australia's Lynas Rare Earths (LYC.AX), opens new tab, as well as lithium producer Liontown Resources (LTR.AX), opens new tab among many others.

It bulked up its defence, gold and rare-earths holdings in its $3.3 billion U.S. portfolio this year, filings showed last month.

Rinehart's investment ​in SpaceX was an ​instant winner. The ⁠shares shot up 19% in their debut last Friday, sending the company's value past $2 trillion to make it the sixth-biggest U.S. company as ​investors jumped at the chance to get a piece of Musk's sprawling empire ​spanning rockets, ⁠satellites and AI.

While commending Musk's entrepreneurial prowess, Rinehart also called him a patriot for slashing U.S. federal jobs through President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

"SpaceX is yet another clear example of ⁠why the ​world needs more enterprise, more builders and much less ​bureaucracy," Rinehart said.

Rinehart, too, has become increasingly political, encouraging some of Australia's wealthiest voters to shift support from the ​country's opposition Liberal-National conservatives to populist, anti-migration party One Nation.

Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Sonali Paul

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Scottish Mortgage Trust share price jumped by over 1% on Friday, paring back some of the losses made earlier that week as investors cheered the SpaceX IPO, which marked a major milestone for the fund. It jumped to a high of 1,497p before paring back the gains to close at 1,450p. SMT stock now faces a major headwind, but the upcoming Anthropic IPO may offer a reprief.

The SMT stock has embarked on a strong rally earlier this year as investors cheered the growing valuation of SpaceX, its biggest investment. SpaceX launched its IPO on Friday, raising $75 billion and attaining a $2.1 trillion valuation. 

This means that Scottish Mortgage has a substantial return as it invested in the company when it was valued at less than $100 billion. It invested 315 million pounds in the company in 2018, a figure that has now surged.

Still, the trust faces a major risk based on how companies behave when they go public. Data shows that over 90% of all companies that went public since January 2025 made a similar pattern. They surged initially amid the IPO hype and then retreated sharply after that.

There are several good examples of this, including Figma, Circle, and Medline. Figma stock price jumped from $33 to $142, before crashing to below $20 today. Circle jumped to $300 and then crashed to $49 a few months later. Medline rose to $50 and then tumbled to $36 today.

Therefore, there is a likelihood that the SPCX stock will retreat in the coming days as investors book profits and valuation concerns remain. If this happens, the value of Scottish Mortgage’s investment will drop substantially.

Some key companies in Scottish Mortgage’s portfolio have lost momentum this year. Meta Platforms has sunk by 30% from its highest point last year, while Amazon has dropped by 14% from the YTD high.

Still, on the positive side, the SMT share price will receive a reprieve because of its stake in Anthropic, the creator of Claude. Bailie Gifford, which runs SMT, made its first investment in Anthropic in 2021 and has steadily grown its position. Anthropic now accounts for about 2.7% of its holdings.

The fund’s return has been strong as Anthropic recently raised capital at a $900 billion valuation. This fundraising makes it the fastest-growing company to cross that valuation.

Anthropic recently filed its IPO papers, with traders anticipating that it will receive a $1.5 trillion valuation after going public later this year. 

The company’s other potential catalysts are its investments in Stripe and Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok. Stripe has become a major player in the finance industry, where it is used by some of the biggest companies in the world like OpenAI, Amazon, Nvidia, Ford, Coinbase, and Google.

It processes transactions worth trillions of dollars a year, with its valuation soaring to over $150 billion. After remaining private for years, Stripe will likely go public in the near future.

ByteDance will also likely go public, a move that will see it attract hundreds of billions of dollars in value. 

Scottish Mortgage share price chart | Source: TradingView

The daily chart shows that the Scottish Mortgage share price has slipped in the past few days. It retreated from a high of 1,565p earlier this month to a low of 1,395p. It then rebounded to the current 1,450p. 

The stock has formed a doji candlestick pattern, pointing to a reversal as the SpaceX IPO hype starts to fade. If this happens, the stock will drop to about 1,300p before resuming the uptrend.

MIAMI, June 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Defiance ETFs today announced the launch of the Defiance Daily Target 2X Long SpaceX ETF (Cboe: SPCU). SPCU begins trading today at 4am ET and seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, equal to 200% of the daily performance of SpaceX Class A common stock (NASDAQ: SPCX).

SpaceX priced its initial public offering at $135 per share and began trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, June 12, under the ticker SPCX. At that price, the company was valued at approximately $1.77 trillion, which according to reports ranks as the largest U.S. IPO in history by debut market value.

SPCU is purpose-built for active traders seeking magnified, short-term exposure to SpaceX. The Fund obtains its exposure primarily through swap agreements and/or listed options contracts rather than by holding SpaceX shares directly, allowing traders to express a high-conviction, tactical view on SpaceX in a single exchange-listed ticker, without a margin account and without managing options positions.

SPCU joins the Defiance Daily 2X Space ETF (Cboe: SPCL), which established 2X daily leveraged exposure to SpaceX on SpaceX's IPO date. On that date, SPCL's leveraged exposure was tied exclusively to SpaceX, although the Fund will hold other investments in accordance with its investment strategy and prospectus disclosures. SPCU further expands Defiance's lineup of leveraged products linked to SpaceX.

For full fund details, the prospectus, holdings, and performance current to the most recent month-end, visit defianceetfs.com/spcu or call 833.333.9383.

The Fund is not suitable for all investors. The Fund is designed to be utilized only by knowledgeable investors who understand the potential consequences of seeking daily leveraged (2X) investment results, understand the risks associated with the use of leverage, and are willing to monitor their portfolios frequently. The Fund is not intended to be used by, and is not appropriate for, investors who do not intend to actively monitor and manage their portfolios. The Fund pursues daily leveraged investment objectives, which means it is riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage. The Fund magnifies the performance of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (the “Underlying Security”) and is designed strictly for short-term use. For periods longer than a single day, the Fund’s performance will be the result of compounded daily returns, which is very likely to differ from 200% of the return of SpaceX over the same period. It is possible that investors could lose their entire principal within a single trading day.

An investment in the Fund is not a direct investment in SpaceX.

About Defiance ETFs

Founded in 2018, Defiance is a leading ETF issuer specializing in thematic, income, and leveraged ETFs. Our first-mover leveraged single-stock ETFs empower investors to take amplified positions in high-growth companies, providing precise leverage exposure without the need to open a margin account.

Media Contact: Sylvia Jablonski | [email protected] | 833.333.9383

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

Defiance ETFs LLC is the ETF sponsor. The Fund’s investment adviser is Tidal Investments, LLC (“Tidal” or the “Adviser”).

The Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other important information about the investment company. Please read the prospectus and/or summary prospectus carefully before investing. Hard copies can be requested by calling 833.333.9383.

Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. As an ETF, the Fund may trade at a premium or discount to its net asset value (“NAV”). Shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the Fund. Brokerage commissions and bid-ask spreads will reduce returns. A portfolio concentrated in a single theme or industry may be subject to a higher degree of risk. There is no guarantee the Fund’s strategy will be successful, and an investor may lose some or all of their investment.

Leveraged Investment Risk. The Fund seeks daily investment results that correspond to two times (2X) the performance of its underlying portfolio. The use of leverage magnifies both gains and losses. As a result, the Fund may experience significant losses over short periods of time, including the potential loss of the entire investment within a single trading day. If the Target Portfolio’s market value decreases by more than 50% on a given trading day, the Fund’s investors could lose all of their money. The Fund may also be subject to the following risks:

Daily Reset and Compounding Risk. The Fund is designed to achieve its stated investment objective on a daily basis. Due to the effects of compounding, the Fund’s returns over periods longer than one trading day will likely differ, and may differ significantly, from 200% of the performance of its underlying portfolio for the same period. This effect is more pronounced in volatile markets.

Short-Term Trading Risk. The Fund is intended for short-term trading and is not designed for long-term investment. Investors who hold shares for periods longer than a single trading day may experience returns that are substantially different from the Fund’s stated objective. The Fund requires active monitoring and management.

Compounding and Market Volatility Risk. The Fund has a daily leveraged investment objective, and the Fund’s performance for periods greater than a trading day will be the result of each day’s returns compounded over the period, which is very likely to differ from two times (200%) the Target Portfolio’s performance, before fees and expenses. The Fund will lose money if the Target Portfolio’s performance is flat over time, and it is possible that the Fund will lose money even if the Target Portfolio’s market value increases over a period longer than a single day. Due to daily rebalancing and the effects of compounding, the volatility of the Target Portfolio may affect the Fund’s return as much as, or more than, the Target Portfolio’s actual return. The impact of compounding will affect each shareholder differently depending on the period of time an investment in the Fund is held and the volatility of the Target Portfolio during that holding period.

Derivatives Risk. The Fund utilizes derivatives, including swap agreements and options contracts, to achieve its investment objective. Derivatives involve risks different from, and potentially greater than, those associated with direct investments in securities. These risks include increased volatility, imperfect correlation, liquidity constraints, valuation complexity, and the potential for losses exceeding the amount initially invested.

Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to counterparty risk through its use of derivatives. If a counterparty to a swap or other derivative instrument fails to meet its contractual obligations, the Fund may experience losses, delays in recovery, or reduced exposure.

Space Investing Risks. The Fund concentrates its exposure in companies involved in the space economy, including satellite communications, launch services, and space-enabled technologies. Companies involved in the design, manufacture, or launch of spacecraft, launch vehicles, or related systems face significant risks associated with launch failures, deployment malfunctions, mission delays, and cost overruns; space launches are inherently complex and costly, and failures may result in total loss of spacecraft or payloads, substantial financial losses, reputational harm, and increased regulatory scrutiny. Space-related businesses often rely on advanced, emerging, or unproven technologies and may be adversely affected by rapid technological change, engineering challenges, or competitors’ development of superior or lower-cost technologies. The space industry is subject to extensive domestic and international regulation, including licensing requirements, export controls, national security restrictions, environmental regulation, and orbital debris mitigation standards; changes in laws or regulatory interpretations may increase compliance costs, delay operations, or limit deployment of space-based systems. Many space-focused companies depend on governmental or quasi-governmental customers and contracts, and reductions in government budgets, policy changes, or contract terminations could materially affect revenues. Space-based operations are exposed to risks from orbital debris, collisions, congestion in Earth’s orbits, and space weather, any of which may damage satellites or spacecraft and result in service disruptions or complete mission failure. Many space-focused companies may have limited operating histories, depend on a narrow set of products or services, or rely on a small number of customers or missions. The Fund may have exposure to foreign issuers, including through ADRs, which can involve political instability, geopolitical tensions, trade restrictions, sanctions, and currency fluctuations that may disrupt supply chains or impair cross-border collaboration. When the Adviser determines there are insufficient Space Companies to meet the Fund’s investment criteria, the Fund may obtain exposure to secondary space technology companies that support or enable space-related activities, which may be less directly exposed to the growth of the space economy and may be more sensitive to broader industry or market risks. The space industry is emerging and may experience higher volatility and uncertainty than more established industries.

Industry Concentration Risk. Because the Fund focuses on a specific theme and industry group, it may be more susceptible to adverse developments affecting that sector than a broadly diversified fund. The Fund will concentrate (i.e., invest 25% or more of its total assets) its investment exposure to companies in the space industry and in industries that develop, deploy, or operate space-related technologies and services.

IPO, SPAC, and De-SPAC Risk. The Fund may invest, including indirectly via derivative instruments, in securities of companies that have recently completed initial public offerings (“IPOs”), special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”), or companies that have become publicly traded through business combinations involving SPACs (“de-SPAC transactions”). These securities may be less seasoned, lack a meaningful trading history, have limited public information and research coverage, and involve risks similar to those of venture capital or other private equity investments. Their prices may be volatile, subject to speculative trading, and susceptible to rapid and substantial declines in value. SPACs are shell or blank check companies that raise capital in an IPO for the purpose of completing a business combination with a private operating company; there is no guarantee that a SPAC will complete a business combination or that any completed transaction will be successful. Conflicts of interest may arise among a SPAC’s sponsors, affiliates, officers, directors, or promoters and unaffiliated security holders.

Swap Agreements. The use of swap transactions is a highly specialized activity, which involves investment techniques and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. Whether the Fund will be successful in using swap agreements to achieve its investment goal depends on the ability of the Adviser to structure such swap agreements in accordance with the Fund’s investment objective and to identify counterparties for those swap agreements.

Non-Diversification Risk. The Fund is classified as non-diversified, which means it may invest a larger percentage of its assets in a smaller number of issuers. As a result, the Fund’s performance may be more volatile and more sensitive to the performance of individual holdings.

Equity Securities Risk. Investments in equity securities are subject to market risk, including the potential for significant price fluctuations due to company-specific events, broader market conditions, economic developments, and changes in investor sentiment.

Foreign and ADR Risk. To the extent the Fund has exposure to foreign issuers or American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), it may be subject to additional risks, including currency fluctuations, political and economic instability, differing regulatory standards, and reduced liquidity.

Small- and Mid-Capitalization Risk. The Fund may invest in small- and mid-cap companies, which may be more volatile, less liquid, and more sensitive to economic changes than larger companies.

Liquidity Risk. In certain market conditions, the Fund’s investments or derivative instruments may become less liquid, making it difficult to adjust exposure or achieve the desired investment objective. Reduced liquidity may also lead to wider bid-ask spreads for Fund shares.

Rebalancing Risk. The Fund seeks to rebalance its exposure daily to maintain its target leverage. If the Fund is unable to rebalance effectively due to market disruptions, liquidity constraints, or operational issues, its exposure may deviate from its intended objective.

Tracking and Correlation Risk. There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to 200% of the daily performance of its underlying portfolio. Market volatility, fees, transaction costs, and derivative pricing may cause performance to deviate from expectations.

High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund’s strategy involves frequent trading and daily rebalancing, which may result in high portfolio turnover, increased transaction costs, and potentially higher taxable distributions.

Tax Risk. The Fund intends to qualify for favorable tax treatment as a regulated investment company (RIC), but there is no guarantee it will do so. Distributions may be taxable as ordinary income, capital gains, or a combination of both.

New Fund Risk. The Fund is recently organized and has limited operating history. As a result, there is limited performance history for investors to evaluate.

Market and Economic Risk. The value of the Fund’s investments may decline due to general market conditions, economic trends, geopolitical events, interest rate changes, inflation, or other external factors beyond the control of the Fund.

Brokerage commissions may be charged on trades.

Distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/623c9438-6e10-4373-bc05-a6ae8c312daf

A general view of a SpaceX facility on the day of the company’s initial public offering (IPO), in Starbase, Texas, U.S., June 12, 2026. REUTERS/Gabriel V. Cardenas Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

June 15 (Reuters) - Elon Musk said on Sunday that his rocket company, SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab, could bring ​in $1 trillion in revenue by 2030, ‌making the statement two days after the company went public, valuing it at over $2 trillion.

"And I ​would be surprised if revenue ​is not greater than $1T in 2031," he ⁠wrote on his social media platform ​X, replying to journalist and financial commentator ​Jon Erlichman.

The Reuters Inside Track newsletter is your essential guide during the World Cup. Sign up here.

SpaceX on Friday became the sixth-largest U.S. firm, cementing Musk's status as the world's first ​trillionaire.

However, the company still makes far ​less money than similarly valued tech giants like ‌Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab ⁠and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab.

In 2025, SpaceX's revenue jumped to $18.67 billion from $14.02 billion a year earlier, but the company swung to a net ​loss of $4.94 ​billion from ⁠a profit of $791 million.

Some Wall Street analysts are cautious about ​the company's growth.

Goldman had estimated ​that ⁠SpaceX's revenue would exceed $470 billion in 2030, while Morgan Stanley projected it would reach nearly $330 ⁠billion, ​according to a Wall ​Street Journal report from earlier this month.

Reporting by Shivani ​Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Is SpaceX a true Rule Breaker stock, or just hype until the fundamentals catch up?

Two-ton satellites, laser communications, in-space mobility ships and more draw attention and new funding.

Space Exploration Technologies (SPCX +19.22%), popularly known as SpaceX, has set the record for the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history. That's clearly generating plenty of buzz around the stock, and investors of all backgrounds are attracted to it. While the range of those buying the shares may be huge, they all have one question in common: "Can this stock make me a millionaire?"

It's a fair question, and there are some key points you must understand to answer it. So, is it possible for SpaceX to make you a millionaire from a single investment? Let's find out.

Image source: Getty Images.

Elon Musk has a history of delivering impressive returns to shareholders There's one key factor for many investors that is contributing to the notion that SpaceX could be a millionaire-maker stock: Elon Musk. Whether you like him or not doesn't really matter when you look at his track record at Tesla; his success is undeniable.

If you had the foresight to invest in Tesla at its IPO, a $5,000 investment would now be worth over $1 million. That's the kind of success investors want to see out of SpaceX, but is that possible?

Unfortunately, I don't think it is. The major difference between Tesla and SpaceX is the stage at which each went public. For the former, it was a fledgling automaker when it went public, having produced barely over 1,000 vehicles. There were multiple times when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy before becoming the success it is today, and the risk was far greater.

SpaceX is not like that. It's an established company and has three key segments: space, connectivity, and artificial intelligence (AI). All of these business units are producing strong revenue growth, and all but its AI segment are profitable on an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) basis. There's a lot less risk involved in its stock versus Tesla's when they each went public, so the expected returns should also be less.

There's another factor: the market cap, which is the company's total value. When Tesla went public, it was valued at about $2 billion. SpaceX was at more than $2 trillion on its first day as a publicly traded company. That means SpaceX went public at a size 100 times larger, which limits investors' return potential.

If you want SpaceX to make you a millionaire, you likely need $1 million already. While risk tolerance varies among investors, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone recommending putting more than 10% of a portfolio value in a single stock. Should SpaceX even grow tenfold from here (which would result in a huge, nearly $20 trillion company), you would need $100,000 to put in the stock now. If 10% is your limit, then you're already a millionaire.

As a result, SpaceX isn't a millionaire-maker stock like Tesla was. That doesn't mean it will be a bad investment, but just don't expect Tesla-like returns.

The SpaceX IPO is the first in a string of AI public-market debuts that could deliver new riches to startup employees to donate to charity.

There used to be a reliable additional bump from admission to indexes, but it has become less certain recently.

Renowned investor Ron Baron praised Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) CEO Elon Musk’s leadership and hinted at his promising future following a recent discussion.

Baron Showers Praise On MuskBaron attended a discussion last week featuring Musk and Jamie Dimon at a J.P. Morgan event. During the event, Dimon questioned Musk about his personal and professional evolution over the past two decades.

"When people ask ‘what is the next SpaceX and who is the next Elon?' Simple answer. There is NO NEXT!!! Elon Musk is a mensch!" he said in a post on X.

Musk’s response, however, was not focused on his past achievements but on his future aspirations. He acknowledged his past mistakes and expressed his eagerness to continue learning.

Musk Speculates On Future Of AIMusk further speculated that future AI might commend his efforts, stating, "I think maybe the future AI will say ‘not bad for a human'." Baron applauded Musk for his contributions to humanity and congratulated his team at SpaceX.

"Elon, thank you so much for what you’ve done for humanity. Congrats to you, @Gwynne_Shotwell, @BretWJ, and the entire team. What is even more remarkable… this feels like day one, that you are just getting started," Baron said.

Musk's Trillionaire Status Sparks DebateMusk’s recent ascension to trillionaire status, following the paceX IPO, has sparked a wave of debate.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

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SpaceX (SPCX +19.17%) makes its debut this week on the Nasdaq exchange in the biggest initial public offering (IPO) on record, with a $75 billion sale valuing the company near $1.75 trillion at its Friday morning debut. For many investors, including those representing major financial institutions, raising that much capital means selling something, and their holdings in the crypto market are likely on the chopping block. For instance, Bitcoin (BTC +0.30%) has shed about half its value since October 2025.

The conventional wisdom says that big listings of highly hyped companies inevitably drain cash from speculative assets, especially ones that have recently underperformed, with cryptocurrency being the most obvious donor. But where will crypto prices go once the SpaceX rocket clears the pad?

Image source: Getty Images.

How the listing is expected to be a headwind for crypto Because crypto markets operate 24/7, they are often considered the market's ATM. Assets can sell for dollars in seconds, and then be redeployed elsewhere on faster timetables than what might be possible with money transfers into brokerage accounts.

The strain is already showing, with Bitcoin's 21% drop over the last 30 days. Spencer Hallarn, global head of over-the-counter trading at GSR, a crypto trading group, said that crypto was acting as a "funding currency" for the IPO wave. Even Strategy, the biggest and most vocal corporate Bitcoin bull, trimmed its stack for the first time since 2022. That put a dent in the already-terrible sentiment about the coin's near-term prospects, which could have encouraged more investors to rotate their capital out, even if everyone knows Strategy itself won't be buying into any IPOs.

On that note, it's important to recognize that SpaceX is only the opening act of this huge IPO season, which will put further pressure on crypto capital. Listings from OpenAI and Anthropic will probably occur within months. For anyone weighing crypto against hot tech stocks, this is probably going to be a multi-quarter drag for the digital coins rather than a passing squall.

Will any of the money come back? Now that the SpaceX IPO is in the books, some of its early backers will likely seek to cash out their profits. It's feasible that a sliver of that sum could rotate back into majors like Bitcoin or Ethereum. That reallocation has rescued crypto in the past, and given that the sector is currently in a bear market, there are certainly some attractive valuations available.

Today's Change

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But investors absolutely should not count on any big capital rotation back into crypto. As an asset class, it's deeply out of favor, and freshly freed-up cash could just as easily chase the next artificial intelligence listing or buy semiconductor stocks to get even more exposure to speculative upside.

Therefore, don't dump your coins to chase IPO shares. If a deeper discount of the leading cryptocurrencies occurs -- and it might -- take the opportunity to load up on Bitcoin and other majors you have conviction in. Until that happens, be aware that this IPO season is going to be a rough stretch.

HomeMarketsU.S. & CanadaMarket SnapshotMarket SnapshotHigher interest rates could make the AI growth story that’s been powering the bull market harder to justifyPublished: June 14, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ET

SpaceX’s blockbuster stock-market debut on Friday showed that investors still have an appetite for moonshots. But this week, the Federal Reserve could bring highflying parts of Wall Street back down to earth.

Few initial public offerings arrived with as much hype as SpaceX’s SPCX. The rocket maker symbolizes the enduring zeal among investors for futuristic growth stories, drawing demand from Wall Street pros, individual traders and index funds even before its first trade. The company’s shares closed 19% higher in their debut Friday, after the IPO priced at $135. SpaceX is now the sixth-most valuable company on Earth, even though it’s still burning through cash.

As told to You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Josh Giegel worked at SpaceX from 2009 to 2012. He's now the CEO of Gambit. Josh Giegel This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Josh Giegel, the 41-year-old cofounder of the AI startup Gambit, who lives in Los Angeles. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I was in grad school at Stanford, finishing my master's and wanting to do a Ph.D.

I had worked at NASA the previous summer, and one of the women I worked with was also a Stanford graduate, and was like: "You're going to be so bored at NASA. Why don't you check out this small space company in Los Angeles called SpaceX?"

I applied and interviewed in the two weeks between flight three and flight four of Falcon 1. I interviewed with Elon; he was still interviewing pretty much everyone at the time. I remember going back to my advisor and saying, "There's nothing I'd rather do on the planet than what he just described."

My Master's ended at the end of 2008, and I began in 2009.

I was on what's called the propulsion analysis team, which was four or five people. Our responsibility was: How do you design the first reusable rocket engine? A very small group of us was responsible for the initial stuff that was on Falcon 9.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a payload into space.  Paul Hennesy/Anadolu via Getty Images I started there when I was 23, and I left when I was 27. It was a little bit of naive immaturity. I knew I wanted to start a company one day, and SpaceX was growing like crazy. I wanted to be on a founding team. I still love the company; I almost went back two or three years later before I ended up starting a company of my own.

The IPO is pretty cool. I'm on a bunch of text threads with guys who were there around the same time, and a couple of them are still there. It's cool to see just how big it became.

When I got there, and they gave the offer, there was an equity component. I remember the HR woman who was going over it with me saying, "We think some day, in 10 or 15 years, this might be worth $250,000-300,000." I distinctly remember her saying, "It might get you a nice down payment on a house in Los Angeles."

We all laugh about it now. But, at the time, the saying was: the fastest way to become a millionaire in space is to start as a billionaire.

Buybacks have been really regular for the last 10 years. Every now and then, we'd take a little bit out. For example, we paid off my wife's student loans a number of years ago. We put down a down payment on a house.

I joke: We did actually get a down payment on a house! She wasn't lying when she said that. It's a house that, on our normal salaries at startups, we wouldn't have been able to afford without that additional windfall.

We also love traveling. We've got a seven-year-old and a one-year-old. We're going to go on slightly more adventurous trips because of it.

My wife is also thinking of doing a larger career change that would come with a decent salary reduction, which she probably wouldn't have been able to do without something like SpaceX.

Professionally, I've always been risky. If the majority of your net worth is tied up in a rocket company, you must be a risk-tolerant individual.

Gambit is a VC-backed company. We've raised about $15 million to date, and there are a couple more investment rounds that are coming. The IPO puts you in a position where folks with a substantial amount of equity could be interested in becoming investors.

At least ten of the people I worked with intimately have started their own company. There was a band that I played in with five SpaceX people; four of us started our own companies. I played guitar.

That whole ecosystem can fund its own endeavors and each other. The quantum of capital that they can put in is not like your typical family and friends round. That's typically $20,000, $50,000, maybe $100,000. Here, that could be on the order of $1 million, maybe $2 million per check.

You also become a bit of a mercenary, asking, "I don't need a paycheck from what I'm going to go do, so what am I going to go do?" It's liberating.

The equity also allows me to take a lower salary at my startup, so that I can go out and hire more people to make my company more successful.

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as told to SpaceX Startups More Student Loans Real Estate Elon Musk

Owen Lamont of Acadian Asset Management says the fast-tracking of mega IPOs shouldn't keep passive investors up at night, but it isn't great either.

SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) stock price jumped by 19% on its first day as a publicly-traded company, with its valuation crossing the $2 trillion mark as most analysts were expecting. 

Analysts Have Mixed Opinions on SpaceX StockJim Chanos, the famed short-seller who blew the whistle on Enron, warned that the elevated valuation made no sense. He pointed to its losses and its 2025 revenue of $18 billion.

Why SPCX Stock May Drop After the IPOThere are several reasons why the SpaceX stock will retreat in the coming weeks or months. First, the hype surrounding its IPO will fade as investors embrace the new normal and start focusing on the upcoming OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs. 

Further, the company is losing billions of dollars because of its AI business, which it gained by merging with xAI. Its most recent results showed that it suffered a net loss of over $4.2 billion in the first quarter of this year. It suffered a $4.9 billion last year.

The other reason it may drop is that its tiered lock-up expiry will happen after 180 days. This expiration makes it possible for insiders to start selling their shares. In most cases, stocks often retreat ahead of the expiration date.

Image: Shutterstock

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