SpaceXs 85bn IPO makes Elon Musk first trillionaire: 63rd anniversary of first woman in space

SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO has reshaped the fortunes of investors, employees and even a rival aerospace giant, while Tuesday marks the 63rd anniversary of Valentina Tereshkova’s historic flight as the first woman in space.

On 12 June 2026 SpaceX listed on the New York Stock Exchange, pricing shares at $135 each and raising $85 billion—$10 billion above its $75 billion target and the largest initial public offering in history . By Monday’s close the stock had jumped 19.6% to $192.50, lifting the company’s valuation to $2.5 trillion and making Elon Musk the world’s first dollar-trillionaire . The windfall has cascaded through a network of early believers: venture funds, university endowments, former engineers and even a direct competitor.

The Wall Street Journal and Business Insider, cited by Meduza, report that SpaceX’s early backers include Stanford University, the University of Texas and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose endowment funds acquired shares before the IPO . A Swedish mining billionaire, identified by Yahoo Finance, placed a major bet on the offering and is now exploring potential commercial ties to Musk’s empire . Former SpaceX welders and software engineers who joined the company in its lean years have seen their equity stakes appreciate into nine- and ten-figure sums. Among the most unexpected beneficiaries is Blue Origin, whose parent company holds a reported 2.3% stake acquired through a 2019 secondary transaction, according to Meduza’s summary of regulatory filings .

The IPO’s ripple effects extend beyond balance sheets. Analysts at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs now cite SpaceX’s valuation as a new benchmark for the aerospace sector, accelerating merger talks among legacy contractors . Meanwhile, Musk has pledged to donate a portion of his proceeds to the Starlink education fund, which aims to provide free broadband to 100,000 schools by 2030.

Half a world away from Wall Street, Tuesday also commemorates Valentina Tereshkova’s 1963 launch aboard Vostok 6, the first time a woman ventured beyond Earth’s atmosphere . The dual milestones—one commercial, one human—underscore how spaceflight continues to redefine both markets and history.