SpaceX IPO: what pre-IPO investors should know
Can you still buy SpaceX pre-IPO shares? No. SpaceX stopped being a pre-IPO company on 11 June 2026, when it priced its IPO at 135 dollars per share, and it started trading on Nasdaq as SPCX on 12 June 2026. You now buy the shares on the public market. Investors who held SpaceX before the listing are still locked up: reporting puts the lock-up at 180 days, released in stages, for pre-IPO investors who are not insiders.
Key takeaways
- SpaceX priced its IPO on 11 June 2026 at 135 dollars per share. Trading on Nasdaq under SPCX began on 12 June 2026.
- The offering raised 75 billion dollars, 86 billion once the greenshoe was exercised, at a valuation of about 1.77 trillion dollars.
- According to reporting, insiders are locked up for 366 days and other pre-IPO investors for 180 days, with staggered release.
- SpaceX is a listed company now. Pre-IPO channels cannot sell it to you any more.
In June 2026 SpaceX pulled off one of the largest initial public offerings on record. If you followed the company on the private market, two things changed overnight: how you buy the shares, and when existing holders are allowed to sell.
The numbers
| Pricing date | 11 June 2026 |
|---|---|
| First trading day | 12 June 2026 |
| Exchange and ticker | Nasdaq, SPCX |
| IPO price | 135 dollars per share |
| Amount raised | 75 billion dollars, 86 billion dollars after the greenshoe was exercised |
| Valuation at IPO | About 1.77 trillion dollars |
| First-day close | 161 dollars per share, up about 19 percent |
| Lead underwriters | Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup |
The xAI deal
In February 2026 SpaceX bought xAI. The deal valued xAI at 125 billion dollars and the combined group at about 1 trillion dollars, the highest value any private company had reached up to that point. xAI no longer exists as a separate private company you can buy into.
Lock-up periods
- Elon Musk and insiders: 366 days.
- Other pre-IPO investors: 180 days, with releases in stages allowed after quarterly milestones.
If you held SpaceX through a private structure, check the exact terms of your own lock-up. They depend on your agreement and on the prospectus.
What the IPO changed
- Access: the shares trade on a public exchange, so pre-IPO channels are out of the picture.
- Price: continuous trading sets it now, not negotiated private deals.
- Information: SpaceX has to meet the reporting obligations of a public company.
- Liquidity: holders still under lock-up cannot sell until their restrictions run out.
What the case says about other private companies
SpaceX shows that in pre-IPO investing, timing, transfer restrictions and lock-up terms weigh as much as the price you pay. The next big listing candidates, OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks among them, each run on their own clock, and none has confirmed an IPO date. The latest reported valuations are in the unicorn tracker.
Frequently asked questions
- They turned into shares of a listed company, priced by the market rather than by private negotiation. Holders could not sell right away. The lock-up, reported at 366 days for insiders and 180 days for other pre-IPO investors, blocks sales until it expires. If you held through an SPV or a fund, that vehicle's terms decide when and how you receive shares or cash.
How large was SpaceX before its IPO?
- Once it had absorbed xAI in February 2026, the combined company was valued at about 1 trillion dollars, more than any private company before it. It listed in June 2026 at a valuation of about 1.77 trillion dollars.
Which companies could be the next large pre-IPO listings?
- The names that come up most are OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks. As of September 2026 none of them had confirmed an IPO date. The unicorn tracker lists their latest reported valuations with dates and sources, and the Unicorn Academy pre-IPO course explains how lock-ups and transfer restrictions work.
Related guides
- What is pre-IPO investing?
- How to invest in OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks before an IPO
- Secondary transactions and right of first refusal (ROFR)
- Unicorn Club
About the publisher
This guide is published by Unicorn Private Research, the research arm of Unicorn Private LLC, a Delaware private equity firm that acquires secondary stakes in late-stage private technology companies before their IPO. The firm invests only in established companies already valued above one billion dollars, not in early-stage start-ups, and its founders have been active in private equity and startup investing since 2005.
Unicorn Private is the first firm in the pre-IPO secondary market to create an open research centre in sixteen languages: guides, a tracker of the largest private technology companies, a glossary, and a frequently asked questions section, open to every reader, with every figure carrying a date and a link to a public source.
Sources
- Initial public offering of SpaceX, Wikipedia
- SpaceX (SPCX) launches historic IPO, Nasdaq
- SpaceX pricing announcement of initial public offering (PDF)
This page in other languages
- IPO di SpaceX: che cosa devono sapere gli investitori pre-IPO (Italiano)
- IPO de SpaceX : ce que les investisseurs pré-IPO doivent savoir (Français)
- SpaceX-IPO: was Pre-IPO-Anleger wissen sollten (Deutsch)
- IPO de SpaceX: qué deben saber los inversores pre-IPO (Español)
- IPO da SpaceX: o que os investidores pré-IPO devem saber (Português)
- IPO SpaceX: что важно знать инвесторам pre-IPO (Русский)
- SpaceX 上市：上市前投资者须知 (中文)
- SpaceXのIPO：プレIPO投資家が知るべき点 (日本語)
- SpaceX आईपीओ: प्री-आईपीओ निवेशकों को क्या जानना चाहिए (हिन्दी)
- SpaceX IPO: 상장 전 투자자가 알아야 할 것 (한국어)
- SpaceX halka arzı: halka arz öncesi yatırımcıların bilmesi gerekenler (Türkçe)
- IPO SpaceX: yang perlu diketahui investor pra-IPO (Bahasa Indonesia)
- طرح SpaceX العام الأولي: ما ينبغي لمستثمري ما قبل الإدراج معرفته (العربية)
- IPO của SpaceX: nhà đầu tư tiền IPO cần biết gì (Tiếng Việt)
- IPO SpaceX: co powinni wiedzieć inwestorzy pre-IPO (Polski)