Why Musk Raced to Take SpaceX Public in the World's Biggest IPO

Elon Musk and his executives had one overarching message for the army of people working on the SpaceX initial public offering over the past six months: Faster, move faster. 

As the gigantic space exploration startup barreled toward a public listing after 24 years as a private company, the urgency was apparent. The acquisition of a $250 billion artificial intelligence company in the middle of the process? Don’t let it slow you down. Why have everyone wait late into the evening for the final terms? Instead, close the deal during market hours.

The rush was driven by a canny strategy: go public before the US midterm elections, with a — mostly — pro-Musk president in charge; beat OpenAI and Anthropic to market to get in early on investors’ appetite for AI-focused listings; and become a public company before Musk’s 55th birthday at the end of June.   

The race culminated on Friday, when Space Exploration Technologies Corp. started trading on the Nasdaq after pricing the biggest IPO in history. The company raised $75 billion and made Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Shares climbed as much as 31% in their debut before closing at $160.95, giving SpaceX a fully diluted market value of $2.2 trillion.

On today’s show, Bloomberg This Weekend hosts David Gura, Christina Ruffini, and Lisa Mateo speak with: 

- Bloomberg Tech Host Ed Ludlow on Elon Musk becoming the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX’s record IPO debut. 

- Eric Martin, Bloomberg News State Department Reporter, alongside Bloomberg News Jerusalem Reporter, Dan Williams, on Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expecting that a US-Iran peace deal will be finalized within 24 hours.

- Swarovski CEO Alexis Nasard on the company’s new “pop luxury” rebrand as well as their turn towards profitability.

Plus, David, Christina, and Lisa Mateo play Pointed: The News Quiz for Risk Takers

For more conversations like this, watch and listen to Bloomberg This Weekend live on Saturdays and Sundays from 7AM-10AM ET. Watch on Bloomberg Television, listen on Bloomberg Radio and stream the show live on the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg.com/video.

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