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The first-ever trillionaire and more than 4,000 new millionaires were minted after SpaceX's historic debut on the Nasdaq exchange on June 12.The company priced 555.6 million of its shares at $135 apiece, making it the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history. As investors lined up to buy shares under ticker symbol SPCX, the stock price shot up and shares opened trading at $150 each. Shares rallied further, closing up 19.34% at $161.11.SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, already the richest man in the world, became even richer. With the surge in SpaceX shares, Forbes officially crowned Musk the world's first trillionaire, on paper. Along for the ride are about 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees who held company stock or options before the IPO, according to the New York Times, citing an analysis by Hill.com, a San Francisco-based investment platform. Of those, about 400 are expected to earn $100 million or more.“SpaceX is a good example of how retail investors can gain access to innovative, cutting-edge private companies through a listed investment trust structure," said Richard Hickman, managing director at HarbourVest Global Private Equity, in an email.Is SpaceX a good investment?If you're looking for a quick profit, SpaceX may not be for you, advisers said.“What we've seen with many high-profile IPOs is an initial surge in price followed by a period where investors give some of those gains back. I think that's the most likely scenario here as well," said Jay Woods, chief strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. "I think there will be better opportunities to enter this name down the road. Personally, I would wait a few weeks—or even a few months—and ideally at least one earnings cycle before considering a larger position."But if you're a long-term investor that can hold on for years, this could be a great investment, some financial advisers said."SpaceX is the ultimate growth stock," said John Belton, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds. "I think this is a company with significant growth potential ahead of it. It's definitely going to be a long-term story, and I think it will take time for the stock to find its footing in the public markets. But there are a lot of exciting opportunities ahead."What makes SpaceX a good long-term investment?Although SpaceX lost about $4.9 billion in 2025 and another $4.3 billion in the first three months of 2026, long-term investors said they believe in Musk and his ability to create a company that can fundamentally change society."It was a great interview with (Amazon founder) Jeff Bezos where he said, ‘You can hate me because I’m a billionaire, but if you look at what Amazon has done for the average consumer, it saves time, hassle, and money. How do you put a price on that?’," said Nancy Tengler, chief executive at Laffer Tengler Investments. "This idea resonated as if we end up with data centers in space, or even see half of what’s outlined in the (SpaceX) prospectus come to fruition, the implications could be meaningful."But she emphasized "our investment horizon is three, five, and even ten years, rather than focusing on where the stock may be one year from now."In the near-term, does SpaceX IPO point to a bubble?Individual investors drove much of the buying, with Vanda Research saying SpaceX easily surpassed every other major IPO launch in the last 6 years."Retail investors have shown up for SpaceX in a big way," Vanda said in a report. "Unsurprisingly, SpaceX is on track to become the biggest IPO debut for retail investors in recent history. Coinbase previously held that crown after attracting $92 million of retail net buying on its first day back in April 2021."For some, the frenzied buying among individual investors is a sign SpaceX's debut "will go down in investing infamy," said Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading. "The largest IPO in history is a perfect storm of everything that is wrong with Wall Street and the clearest signal that we are in the midst of an equity market bubble...Buying because it's cool is the complacency that gets investors hurt. Remember, anyone who really wants to own SpaceX already does at much lower prices."(Updated with new comments and closing stock price.)Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday.
