SpaceX Enlists Banks for Potential IPO

Elon Musk's SpaceX is advancing preparations for an initial public offering, enlisting Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley as lead underwriters for what could become one of the largest stock market debuts in history.

The aerospace company, valued at more than $800 billion through recent secondary share sales, has not set a firm timeline for the IPO, though discussions point to a possible debut as early as 2026. Sources familiar with the matter indicate that the process involves selecting additional banks for supporting roles, but no final decisions have been made and arrangements could evolve. The offering could raise over $25 billion, potentially surpassing the $29 billion record set by Saudi Aramco's 2019 listing.

SpaceX's move marks a departure from its longstanding policy against going public until achieving a human presence on Mars, a milestone still years away. Insiders attribute the shift to the need for substantial capital to develop ambitious infrastructure projects, particularly AI data centers in orbit. Such facilities would harness solar energy more efficiently and address the growing demands of artificial intelligence computing, which...