Elon Musk could soon become the world's first trillionaire, as SpaceX to debut on stock market

SPACEX IS TO float on the stock market for the first time this month in the largest US stock market debut in history, a move that will put Elon Musk on course to become the world’s first trillionaire.

The company plans to raise up to $75 billion (€64.84 billion) when it goes public, selling 555.6 million shares at $135 (€120) apiece.

This would give SpaceX a market value of $1.77 trillion (€1.52 trillion), making it the seventh-wealthiest companies in the S&P 500, with Nvidia tops at $5.2 trillion (€4.48 trillion).

The company’s amended prospectus has updated details about how much control of the company Musk, who is currently SpaceX’s chief executive, chief technical officer and chairman, will have.

Musk’s voting power will come primarily through his ownership of $5.22 billion (€4.49 billion) Class B shares, which give the holder 10 votes for every share held. According to the filing, Musk would have 82.4% of the voting power in the company.

Forbes currently values Musk’s net worth at $826 billion (€711.21 billion) and his stake in SpaceX at $542 billion (€466.68 billion).

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The estimated proceeds from the SpaceX IPO would easily top the $26 billion (€22.39 billion) raised by oil giant Saudi Aramco in 2019.

The IPO document strikes a contrast with the typically dry, technical prose in normal documents, detailing plans to use proceeds from the sale to help put men on the moon again and perhaps even Mars.

In one section, it talks of a need to build “a permanent human colony” on the red planet with “at least one million inhabitants” as existential threats loom that could consign man to “the same fate as the dinosaurs”.

The move comes weeks after the most powerful SpaceX starship ever launched exploded in the Indian Ocean after a mostly successful test flight.

The voyage was not without a few glitches, but SpaceX employees shown on a livestream roared in delight following the trial flight that comes as the firm owned by Elon Musk prepares a potentially record initial public offering.

The spacecraft is an upgraded version of the Starship that Nasa is counting on to land astronauts on the moon.

With additional reporting from PA.

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