Elon Musk's last IPO was Tesla in 2010, and Goldman Sachs led that one too. Now Goldman is back in the lead-left seat on what could be the biggest U.S. IPO ever: a $1.25 trillion debut for SpaceX.
Goldman has the lead-left position on the prospectus, the most senior role on an IPO, followed by Morgan Stanley, then Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase, according to sources cited by CNBC.
SpaceX filed confidentially with the SEC last month and could make the prospectus public as soon as Wednesday.
The $1.25 trillion valuation Musk pinned on SpaceX came in February, when he merged the rocket company with his AI startup xAI. For context, only two tech companies (Facebook and Alibaba) have ever closed their first trading day with a market cap above $100 billion - SpaceX would be more than ten times that.
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SpaceX is trying to land on a public exchange before OpenAI and Anthropic, the two AI model leaders that private investors have each valued near $1 trillion. Both companies are reportedly eyeing IPOs as soon as this year.
Cerebras, an AI chipmaker, closed its Nasdaq debut last week at about a $95 billion market cap, which signals the public market is ready to absorb mega AI-adjacent listings again.
For Musk, the timing lands days after an Oakland advisory jury sided with OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman in his 2024 lawsuit, ruling Musk waited too long to sue. Musk called it a "calendar technicality" and said he would appeal.
The order on the prospectus is its own signal, since lead-left underwriters get more allocation, more fees, and more reputational weight - which is why Goldman holding that role on both of Musk's public companies stands out.
Once the prospectus goes public, three questions will drive the investor reaction:
A trillion-dollar IPO doesn't price itself.
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