From epic venture capital returns to high-leverage ETFs poised for success, SpaceX's record-breaking IPO is propelling Elon Musk's "Space AI Empire" towards a new focal point in technology investment.

Minority venture capital (VC) leaders will receive billions of dollars in investment returns in the IPO of the stock market for SpaceX, the space exploration and artificial intelligence leader founded by Musk, valued at nearly $1.8 trillion. This will be the most significant wealth expansion feast in the history of global venture capital. To investors focusing on the strong growth prospects of SpaceX, the epic IPO of SpaceX is not just about the "largest IPO in history," but about global capital markets redefining a leading commercial aerospace company as a super platform asset that integrates high-frequency commercial rocket launches, Starlink satellite communications, AI application developers, cloud AI inference resource providers, space orbital AI data centers, Siasun Robot & Automation, and the narrative of human migration to Mars. On the offering side, SpaceX is priced at $135 per share, with approximately 5.556 billion shares issued, raising about $750 billion and valued at approximately $1.77 trillion to $1.8 trillion. The company plans to list on the NASDAQ under the symbol "SPCX," surpassing the Saudi Aramco 2019 IPO record and becoming a new milestone in the global capital markets. This explains why it is not only attracting traditional tech growth funds but also Wall Street giants like BlackRock, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, retail investors, crypto traders, and ETF issuers entering the market, with retail subscriptions exceeding $100 billion, highlighting that the market is not buying into single-year profits but betting on the long-term upside of the "Musk ecosystem + AI computing infrastructure + Starlink global network + future orbital economy." ETF issuers rushing in collectively indicate that Wall Street has rapidly turned SpaceX from a stock into a "tradable volatility asset." In other words, SpaceX will not only be an equity asset when listed but will quickly become the high-leverage trading core for ETFs, options, perpetual contracts, and index funds. Large-scale asset managers like BlackRock, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and global pension funds are also heavily involved, showing that SpaceX has become a consensus trade across assets, regions, and risk preferences. Long-term funds are focusing on the massive cash flow of the Starlink network, the monopoly of high-frequency commercial rocket launches, one of the gateways to AI computing infrastructure, and the comprehensive integration of Musk's AI empire; retail investors believe they are potentially buying into the "next Tesla-like wealth myth"; the crypto market trades for short-term premiums and volatility; while ETF issuers are buying trading volume. As the wealthiest person in the world to date, Musk has accomplished what others thought was impossible through SpaceX, making high-frequency rocket launches commercially viable, bringing electric vehicles to the mainstream market through the global electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc., and providing internet connectivity infrastructure from space through Starlink. However, some investors doubt whether Musk can truly build the "epic" chip manufacturing initiative in Austin and realize his dream of the "artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, humanoid Siasun Robot & Automation, and space AI data center super blueprint." The IPO prospectus released by SpaceX last month shows the company's self-evaluated total addressable market (TAM) for SpaceX at an astonishing $28.5 trillion. If this so-called "space AI empire" super blueprint is eventually realized, it will approach the entire output of the U.S. economy. The company stated in its IPO prospectus that it has "identified the largest scale of executable total addressable market prospect in human history," mainly driven by AI super software and the contributions in the space sector cannot be underestimated. The historic IPO of SpaceX has completely sparked a "wealth-making myth" in the VC circles The venture capital firm Founders Fund, led by Musk's long-time partner Peter Thiel, has invested nearly $600 million over the past 20 years in multiple rounds into SpaceX, currently holding about 3% of the company. According to sources, based on the proposed IPO trading price of $135 per share, the value of this stake in the company exceeds $50 billion. Media reports citing sources revealed that Andreessen Horowitz will receive its largest investment return in history from SpaceX. The source stated that the value of the stake held by this venture capital firm in SpaceX will exceed $10 billion. Sources also revealed that the long-established VC giant Sequoia Capital made its first investment in SpaceX at the end of 2019, currently holding about 1.5% of the company. This stake is valued at over $20 billion. Sequoia has cumulatively invested about $2 billion into SpaceX, including an $800 million investment in X; X is a social media network formerly known as Twitter acquired by Musk in 2022. The official name of SpaceX is Space Exploration Technologies, and after completing the largest IPO in history and raising an astonishing $750 billion, it is scheduled to begin trading on the US stock market on Friday. This Wall Street debut has brought almost unprecedented returns for venture capital investors compared to many AI startups that are choosing to remain privately-held for a longer period of time. It also validates the investment acumen of investors who bet on Musk's grand narrative of building a rocket and space exploration company more than two decades ago, and also verifies the unexpected fortunes gained by investors in other businesses led by Musk that were later integrated into SpaceX. Founders Fund general partner Trae Stephens recently said in an interview with Bloomberg Tech, "The core lesson everyone learned from this record-breaking IPO frenzy is to never bet against any trading theme related to Elon - it's a bad idea." Altra Venture Partners managing partner Jamie Melzer expressed a similar sentiment. She said, "Anyone who has invested in Musk along the way will earn huge profits in this IPO." Valor Equity Partners, founded by Musk ally Antonio Gracias, holds about 4% of SpaceX, according to the company's IPO documents. The value of this stake is now close to $70 billion. DFJ Growth, which has invested in several companies founded by Musk, is also set to receive significant returns. The company said it has invested over $800 million into SpaceX. According to analysts' compiled data, the company holds at least 2% of SpaceX, with a corresponding equity value of at least approximately $35 billion. Another early investor, 137 Ventures, holds about 1% of SpaceX, as disclosed by the company's founder Justin Fishner-Wolfson in a previous interview with Bloomberg Tech. For some SpaceX investors, returns may continue to grow, such as Thrive Capital. Thrive invested in the rocket company when it was valued at $38 billion. Thrive and Andreessen are also major investors in AI programming startup Cursor, which is expected to be acquired by SpaceX for $60 billion later this year. According to a source, if this acquisition is completed, Thrive Capital's total stake in SpaceX, through direct investments and its holding in Cursor, will be valued at approximately $10 billion. The $1.8 trillion IPO is just the beginning? SpaceX ignites a collective bullish frenzy of retail investors, Wall Street giants, sovereign funds, and the crypto market As described above, the core of SpaceX's epic IPO is not just about the "largest IPO in history" itself, but about the global capital markets redefining a leading commercial aerospace company as a super platform asset that integrates high-frequency commercial rocket launches, Starlink satellite communications, AI application developers, cloud AI inference resource providers, space orbital AI data centers, Siasun Robot & Automation, and the narrative of human migration to Mars. For early-stage venture capitalists, this is a nearly textbook-level realization of "power law returns." Founders Fund exchanged approximately $600 million in cumulative investments for about 3% ownership, valued at over $50 billion at the IPO valuation; Andreessen Horowitz's stake is expected to be over $10 billion; Sequoia Capital's approximately 1.5% stake is worth over $20 billion; Valor Equity's nearly 4% stake is close to $70 billion; DFJ Growth's at least 2% stake is worth at least approximately $35 billion. These returns demonstrate that in the era of Shenzhen Kaifa Technology, hard tech, and AI infrastructure, the greatest returns in venture capital no longer come from light asset internet applications, but from platform-based super tech companies like SpaceX that can leverage national capital expenditures, global network effects, and extremely high technological barriers. The rush of ETF issuers indicates that Wall Street has rapidly turned SpaceX from a stock into a "trading volatility asset." ProShares, Direxion, Defiance, GraniteShares, REX, Tradr, and other institutions are competing to launch 2x long, inverse, options strategies, or single-stock high-leverage ETFs tracking SpaceX's daily returns. This is highly similar to the centralized listing of Bitcoin physical ETFs in 2024: the product structures are homogeneous, and real competition lies in the speed of initial launch, channel occupancy, market-making depth, and brand marketing. In other words, SpaceX, upon listing, will not just be an equity asset but will quickly become the high-leverage trading core surrounded by ETFs, options, perpetual contracts, and index funds. The premature pricing of premiums in the crypto market further reinforces the "expectation of a big increase on the first day." SpaceX-related perpetual contracts are trading on platforms like Hyperliquid and Binance, with prices significantly higher than the $135 IPO price; Talos data shows that SpaceX perpetual contracts traded at an average VWAP of approximately $155 across multiple platforms, forming a significant premium relative to the $135 issue price, with outstanding contracts exceeding $2.15 billion and total trading volume exceeding $22 billion. Market data also shows that the perpetual contracts had an implied market value of around $2 trillion to $2.3 trillion at one point, indicating that crypto traders view SpaceX as a leveraged "first-day surge" bet. Perpetual contracts have successfully predicted the skyrocketing debut of Cerebras in the US stock market. However, it must be emphasized that perpetual contracts do not represent ownership of the stock, nor do they represent real shareholder rights; their prices are greatly influenced by funding rates, leverage, liquidity, market-making mechanisms, and retail sentiment. They can serve as a gauge of risk preference but cannot serve as an anchor for intrinsic value. The rush of both retail and institutional investors paints an unprecedented picture for this IPO. Public reports show that SpaceX received over $100 billion in retail orders, with individual investors accounting for approximately 20% to 30% of the overall subscription demand, far exceeding the issuance volume. Giant asset managers like BlackRock, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and global pension funds are also heavily involved, showing that SpaceX has become a consensus trade across assets, regions, and risk preferences. Long-term funds are focusing on the ten-year cash flow outlook of Starlink, the monopoly of high-frequency rocket launches, one of the gateways to AI computing infrastructure, and the comprehensive integration of Musk's AI ecosystem; retail investors are buying into the "next Tesla-like wealth myth"; the crypto market trades for short-term premiums and volatility; and ETF issuers are buying trading volume. However, this feast also brings a significant liquidity draining effect. In order to fund their participation in the SpaceX IPO, retail investors have sold off parts of their tech stocks and AI computing industry leaders in the super cycle, with chip stocks, AI concept stocks, and stocks with recent significant gains being the first to bear the brunt. The logic behind this is not difficult to understand: when a new giant with a $1.8 trillion valuation suddenly enters the public market, and retail investors, institutions, ETFs, and index funds all need to make large-scale allocations, the funds cannot all come from cash reserves, and a portion will definitely come from selling off existing tech positions. For the AI super bull market, SpaceX is not just a simple "bullish" or "bearish" signal but is likely to be a short-term reallocation shock: it may draw liquidity from Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron, Qualcomm, and a host of semiconductor equipment hot stocks on the margin, and may reinforce the entire AI computing capital expenditure chain through the grand narrative of "endless demand for AI computing infrastructure + space AI data center."