SpaceX shares slip below IPO price as lock-up concerns trigger selloff; Elon Musk loses trillionaire status
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After a blockbuster debut on U.S. stock exchanges last month, shares of Elon Musk-led SpaceX briefly slipped below their initial public offering (IPO) price of $135 during intraday trading on Wednesday. The stock touched a low of $132.15 before recovering to close above the issue price.
In overnight trading, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) ended 0.6% lower at $135.27 on the Nasdaq, giving the company a market capitalisation of around $1.78 trillion.
The stock has fallen about 12.5% over the past four trading sessions as investors booked profits following a sharp post-listing rally. The decline has also been driven by concerns over a potential increase in share supply when the first lock-up period expires in August.
Following the company's first quarterly earnings announcement, expected in early August, employees and certain early investors will become eligible to sell approximately 911.5 million shares.
SpaceX made its Nasdaq debut on June 12, 2026, after pricing its IPO at $135 per share. The stock rallied to an intraday high of more than $225 during its first week of trading but has since retreated by nearly 40%, bringing it back close to its IPO price. The correction has erased nearly $1 trillion from the company's market valuation.
The company raised a record $75 billion through its initial public offering, making it the largest IPO globally and surpassing the previous record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019. The offering valued SpaceX at approximately $1.77 trillion before trading began, marking the highest valuation ever achieved by a newly listed company.
According to the company's regulatory filing, the IPO proceeds will be used to fund expansion across its launch business, Starlink satellite network, AI infrastructure initiatives, and long-term space exploration projects.
The recent decline has also dented Elon Musk's personal fortune. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth has fallen to around $856 billion, pushing him below the trillion-dollar mark. The world's richest person owns about 42% of SpaceX's outstanding equity, including stock options.
Regulatory filings show that Musk receives an annual salary of about $54,000 from SpaceX. However, the bulk of his wealth is derived from his ownership stakes in SpaceX, Tesla, and his other ventures rather than salary or bonuses. As a result, fluctuations in the valuations of these companies have a far greater impact on his net worth than executive compensation.
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