SpaceX filed to go public on May 20, aiming to raise at least $75 billion at a valuation as high as $2 trillion -- which would be the largest IPO in history, worth more than Microsoft. Starlink, its satellite-internet arm, now drives most of the revenue and is the only consistently profitable piece of the company. Trading on the Nasdaq could begin in June, under the ticker SPCX.

1. The Biggest IPO Ever, and Worth It (bulls)

Starlink is a genuine cash machine, and Starship is upside nobody else can sell.

Starlink alone makes the case for getting in. SpaceX's satellite-internet business pulled in about $3.3 billion in a single quarter at a 36% margin, with more than 10 million subscribers and no serious competitor -- a profit engine most companies would kill for.

And you're not just buying internet -- you're buying orbit. Chad Anderson, an early SpaceX investor, argues Starship opens frontier markets no rival can touch -- orbital data centers, the Moon, Mars. The biggest IPO in history, the bulls say, is priced for a company that owns the future of space.

2. You're Paying $2 Trillion for a Company That Loses Money (valuation skeptics)

Bigger than Microsoft, less revenue than Macy's, and bleeding cash. Do the math.

The valuation and the income statement are not even close. SpaceX wants to list worth more than Microsoft -- trailing only Apple and Nvidia -- despite a $4.28 billion net loss in the first quarter alone and an accumulated deficit north of $41 billion.

And if you strip out Starlink and the case gets realllly thin. The launch business is barely a fifth of revenue, the company sells less than Macy's, and the trillions in value rest on Starlink plus a Mars vision that could take decades -- if it arrives at all.

3. You're Buying a Ticket, Not a Vote (governance critics)

Musk keeps 85% of the votes. The public gets the ride, not the wheel.

This is Elon's company, and the share structure makes sure it stays that way. The filing hands Musk super-voting shares: about 42% of the equity but 85% of the votes, plus the CEO, CTO, and chairman titles. He effectively cannot be fired.

That's a lot of trust to place in one famously volatile founder. Public investors get no real check on a man who also runs Tesla and xAI, owns a social network, wades into global politics, and stands to become the world's first trillionaire on the back of this listing.

Where This Lands

The bull case is real: Starlink is a printing press, and no one else can build Starship. The bear case is also real: a $2 trillion tag on a money-losing company is a bet on a future that hasn't shipped. And whichever way that breaks, buyers sign the same fine print -- Musk runs it, Musk can't be removed, and the public is along for the ride. And there's a bigger worry, too: NASA and the Pentagon depend on this company to reach orbit -- now it answers to the stock market and one man at the same time.

Sources