|
Tech billionaire Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire on Friday following the blockbuster public debut of his aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company, SpaceX, which achieved a market valuation of USD 2 trillion in the largest initial public offering (IPO) in history, according to CNN.
SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Musk in 2002, made its debut on the Nasdaq after pricing 556 million shares at USD 135 each, raising approximately USD 75 billion. According to CNN, the company's shares opened at around USD 150 and climbed further during trading, reaching USD 165 - about 22 per cent above the IPO price. The surge in the stock price pushed SpaceX's valuation above USD 2 trillion, making it the sixth-largest publicly traded company in the United States by market capitalisation, behind Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. As per the calculation, if someone spent USD 1 million every hour, around the clock, it would take more than 100 years to exhaust USD 1 trillion. Musk marked the milestone by jointly ringing the Nasdaq opening bell from SpaceX headquarters in Texas. The market debut significantly boosted Musk's net worth, making him the first person in history to cross the USD 1 trillion wealth mark. CNN reported that the bulk of Musk's fortune remains tied to his holdings and stock options in SpaceX and Tesla. The SpaceX IPO is reported to be the largest on record, surpassing the 2019 listing of Saudi Aramco, which raised just under USD 30 billion. The USD 75 billion offering is nearly three times the size of the Saudi oil giant's market debut. According to CNN, Musk's estimated wealth now exceeds the combined fortunes of several of the world's wealthiest individuals, including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. CNN reports further noted that Musk's personal fortune also surpasses the gross domestic product of several countries, including Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden, Singapore and his native South Africa. SpaceX's successful debut is also being viewed as the beginning of a new wave of major technology listings. (ANI)
|
