Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX stock surged almost 20 per cent after a successful initial public offering (IPO).

On Friday, the AI and rocketry company successfully debuted at $135 a share, raising $75 billion in a record-breaking opening.

Speaking as he rang the NASDAQ’s opening bell, Musk said: “It is certainly hard to believe that a little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is now going public with the largest IPO ever.”

“And let me tell you, if people had told me this was going to happen, I was like, ‘man, you must be smoking some really good crack, because I think this company is going to fail’”, he added.

In his speech, Musk also reiterated SpaceX’s intention to make human life multi-planetary, comparing his vision to that of science-fiction show Star Trek.

The chief executive owns 42 per cent of SpaceX, totalling over $800 billion. Combined with his $280 billion holding in electric vehicle company Tesla, Musk is now worth over $1 trillion.

The IPO itself was around three times oversubscribed, according to bankers cited by the Financial Times. They added that individual investors placed orders for more than $100 billion, and were allocated between 20 and 25 per cent of shares sold.

SpaceX’s IPO valued the company at an earnings multiple of around 90 times, far above what is typical of technology stocks. Its success marks the beginning of what is expected to be a summer of blockbuster IPOs by fellow AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI, both of which have filed S-1 forms this month.

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