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A rocketship of an IPO

I’ve been a business journalist for nearly two decades. Some IPOs are permanently etched in my memory: Facebook’s messy debut in May 2012, Chinese tech giant Alibaba’s blockbuster September 2014 listing. Uber’s IPO in May 2019. The SPAC mania that swept Wall Street in 2021.

None of that compares to SpaceX.

The rocket company’s record-shattering $75 billion IPO stands out, if only by the sheer numbers of the deal.

SpaceX shares surged as much as 30% Friday, pushing its market value above $2 trillion and instantly making it one of the 10 most valuable companies on the planet.

Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire, with a fortune worth more than three times that of the next-richest person. Retail investors received an unusually large slice of the deal, and they appeared eager to pile in.

The result: a spectacle that stretched beyond Wall Street.

Here’s a look at the celebrations, scenes, and protests surrounding one of the most anticipated public debuts in market history.

Celebrations

Goldman Sachs celebrated its role as lead left bookrunner. The bank transformed its lobby and cafeteria with a space-themed makeover featuring moon rock macarons, “big bang burritos,” and other cosmic touches. CEO David Solomon highlighted the IPO in his annual letter to interns.

At JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon hosted roughly 250 SpaceX employees Friday night at the bank’s new Park Avenue headquarters. The intergalactic-inspired evening featured dinner and cocktails, including a SpaceX-branded tomahawk steak carving station and a special light show of rocket launches and space imagery.

Scenes

SpaceX listed its stock on the Nasdaq, located in Times Square. Always an eclectic scene, Times Square was filled with people in astronaut costumes, curious tourists, and Musk fanboys and fangirls hoping they would get a glimpse of the trillionaire (he was actually in Texas at SpaceX headquarters when the stock started trading).

“People will remember this 20 years from now: Where were you on SpaceX IPO?” Hanan Buridi told my colleague Alice Tecotzky.

Protests

Not everyone came to celebrate.

On Thursday, a giant, inflatable, shirtless Musk, tattooed with allegations against the rocket company, appeared outside Morgan Stanley’s office in Times Square. Morgan Stanley was a lead bank on the deal.

As SpaceX shares began trading, protesters from Stop Funding Billionaires gathered outside JPMorgan’s headquarters, carrying a banner reading: “Stop Elon. No Trillionaires.” The group chanted “No billionaires, no trillionaires” and told my colleague Alex Nicoll they were protesting JPMorgan’s IPO celebration.

What did you think of the SpaceX IPO? Will you buy the stock? We want to hear from you! Drop me your thoughts at srussolillo@businessinsider.com.