SpaceX Taps Goldman Sachs to Lead What Could Become the Biggest IPO in History

SpaceX is preparing for one of the most anticipated public offerings in modern financial history, with Goldman Sachs reportedly selected to lead the company’s upcoming IPO.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Goldman will occupy the prestigious “lead left” position on the prospectus, signaling its primary role in managing the transaction. Morgan Stanley is expected to follow, alongside several other major Wall Street banks including Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase.

The move marks another milestone in Elon Musk’s effort to bring his aerospace company to the public markets after years of speculation surrounding a potential listing.

SpaceX could publicly release its IPO prospectus within days after confidentially filing paperwork with U.S. regulators last month. Investors are closely watching the process because the company’s valuation has surged dramatically in recent years alongside the explosive growth of the artificial intelligence and space technology sectors.

The company was most recently valued at approximately $1.25 trillion after Musk combined SpaceX with xAI, his artificial intelligence startup, earlier this year. That valuation would place SpaceX in unprecedented territory for a newly public company.

To date, only a handful of technology firms have ever crossed the $100 billion valuation mark shortly after their public debut. SpaceX’s anticipated market capitalization would far exceed those levels, potentially redefining expectations for large-scale IPOs.

The offering also arrives during a broader resurgence in investor appetite for AI-related businesses. Recent technology listings tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure have attracted enormous attention from markets, fueling expectations that a new wave of mega IPOs could emerge over the next year.

SpaceX is widely viewed as uniquely positioned within that environment because its business spans multiple high-growth industries simultaneously, including satellite internet, launch services, defense infrastructure, and increasingly AI-related computing and communications capabilities.

The IPO could also place SpaceX ahead of several other major private AI companies that are reportedly considering public listings, including OpenAI and Anthropic, both of which have achieved enormous private-market valuations.

For Musk personally, the timing of the IPO process comes during an eventful period. Just days before reports emerged about the SpaceX offering structure, Musk suffered a courtroom defeat in his legal battle against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman over the organization’s transition away from its original nonprofit structure.

While unrelated operationally, the juxtaposition highlights how central Musk remains to some of the world’s most influential technology narratives — spanning artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, social media, and space exploration.

The choice of Goldman Sachs also carries symbolic significance. The bank previously led Tesla’s IPO in 2010, which ultimately became one of the most transformative public listings in modern market history. Several of the same major banks involved in Tesla’s offering are expected to participate again in the SpaceX transaction.

Investors are likely to scrutinize several aspects of the upcoming filing, including SpaceX’s profitability, growth trajectory, Starlink satellite economics, government contracts, and the integration of AI initiatives through xAI.

The listing could also become a defining moment for capital markets more broadly. Technology IPO activity has remained relatively subdued since the market downturn that followed the inflation shock of 2022. A successful SpaceX debut could reignite confidence across the broader IPO ecosystem.

Ultimately, SpaceX’s public offering is shaping up to be more than just another tech IPO. It represents the convergence of several of the market’s biggest themes — artificial intelligence, private space infrastructure, geopolitical technology competition, and Elon Musk’s growing influence across industries shaping the future global economy.