SpaceX Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell called the company’s record-setting $75 billion initial public offering “one small step” in a “very futuristic” journey, emphasizing that the historic IPO marks just the beginning of far more ambitious goals ahead.
SpaceX priced its shares at $135 each on June 11, 2026, raising $75 billion and becoming the largest IPO in history—nearly three times larger than Saudi Aramco’s previous record of $29.4 billion set in 2019, according to Reuters and Anadolu Agency. The company began trading on Nasdaq on June 12 under the ticker SPCX, valuing SpaceX at approximately $1.77 trillion.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC, Shotwell spoke from SpaceX’s Starbase headquarters in Texas about why the timing felt right for going public. “I wasn’t sure we would go public,” she said. “It actually feels like the right time now.” She noted that the company had needed to remain private to focus on long-term goals rather than quarterly earnings.
Shotwell, who joined SpaceX in 2002 as vice president of business development, has spent 24 years building and selling the company through her engineering expertise and dealmaking instincts, according to Reuters. She oversees day-to-day operations of a 22,000-person workforce and manages everything from rocket development to Starlink and the integration of xAI. She is the second-highest executive at SpaceX, reporting directly to founder and CEO Elon Musk.
The IPO raised investor interest far beyond expectations. Retail investors alone placed more than $100 billion in orders, according to Forbes, though the company reduced retail allocation to the low 20% range due to overwhelming demand.
Starship and the very futuristic vision
Shotwell emphasized SpaceX’s long-term horizon in her interview. “I do not want to focus on quarterly earnings,” she said. “I’m not saying we’re not going to do right by our investors, but what folks who invest in SpaceX need to know is that what we’re doing is very futuristic.”
Much of that vision depends on Starship, SpaceX’s next-generation fully reusable rocket designed to carry cargo and people to Mars and serve as a platform for orbital data centers powered by artificial intelligence. The company recently completed its 12th test flight, and Shotwell said SpaceX is targeting orbital flights by year’s end, with regular monthly flights to follow. Starship has cost $15 billion so far, invested in technical development, production ramping, and infrastructure at Starbase.
The convergence of space and AI infrastructure represents a major part of SpaceX’s future growth strategy. SpaceX acquired xAI earlier in 2026 and is building Colossus data centers in Memphis, Tennessee, while jointly developing the Terafab semiconductor fabrication plant with Tesla. Shotwell told CNBC that SpaceX expects to deploy AI compute satellites as early as 2028, representing a new frontier in cloud infrastructure delivered from orbit.
Shotwell acknowledged supply chain challenges, noting that chip manufacturers may not yet believe in SpaceX’s scaling ambitions. She also indicated that future mergers and acquisitions are likely, particularly in the AI sector, though she sidestepped questions about a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger by saying the two companies share synergies but her immediate focus is keeping rockets flying and providing broadband to underserved populations.
The IPO success reflects investor confidence in SpaceX’s track record. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket accounts for roughly 80% of global mass launched to orbit since 2023, and Starlink has grown to more than 10 million subscribers accessing the internet via a constellation of roughly 9,600 satellites. SpaceX launched 165 orbital missions last year, with 157 using reused rocket boosters, demonstrating the commercial viability of reusable spaceflight—a core innovation that drove launch costs down by more than 90% compared to the Space Shuttle.
Sources
- CNBC — Exclusive interview with Gwynne Shotwell, IPO commentary, company valuation, and Starship development details
- Reuters — IPO pricing at $135 per share, Shotwell’s 24-year tenure at SpaceX, and historical IPO comparisons
- Anadolu Agency — Saudi Aramco IPO record of $29.4 billion in 2019
- Los Angeles Times — SpaceX IPO valuation at $1.77 trillion
- Forbes — Retail investor demand exceeding $100 billion
