SpaceX will launch its long-awaited initial public offering on 12 June, seeking a valuation of up to $2 trillion that could propel its founder Elon Musk into history as the world’s first trillionaire. The listing of the private rocket and satellite company marks a seminal moment for commercial spaceflight, but it is already drawing scrutiny from regulators, scepticism from some investors and commentary on wealth inequality from Paris to Sydney. Woven into the company’s SEC filing is a characteristically grand claim: that SpaceX is helping to spark “one of the most advanced civilizations in the Milky Way.” Viewed from Washington, the extraordinary statement might prompt a review by the Securities and Exchange Commission, though analysts see little chance it would derail the offering.

The financial arithmetic underlying the IPO underscores both the promise and the peril. While early backers such as the little-known New York hedge fund Darsana Capital Partners stand to reap gains exceeding $10 billion — having invested when the company was valued at just $30 billion — the firm itself remains deeply loss-making. Last year it posted a net loss of $4.9 billion, even as its Starlink satellite internet unit turned profitable. Investors and analysts in London and Zurich note that the ballooning valuation rests heavily on future visions: interplanetary transport, an AI-driven communications mesh and Musk’s recent acquisition of xAI, folded into SpaceX to create what he calls “the most ambitious innovation engine on (and off) Earth.” Such narratives, they warn, make the stock a high-risk bet.

In Australia, a different anxiety is surfacing. Retail investors who hold passive exchange-traded funds fear that once SpaceX enters broad-market indices, their portfolios will be inadvertently skewed towards a single, highly volatile stock. “This creates an issue for many clients who don’t particularly want exposure to something like SpaceX,” said Gemma Dale, an investor behaviour specialist. The concentration risk is tangible: the IPO could raise up to $75 billion, instantly making SpaceX a heavyweight in tech ETFs and forcing exposure on millions of savers.

In Paris, the offering has reignited broader debates. Chroniclers point to the Forbes 2026 ranking, where Musk already sat far atop the global rich list. A successful listing at the higher end of its range would solidify his wealth at more than $1,000 billion, intensifying French anxieties about a winner-take-all economy. The columnists link his trajectory to the same globalising forces that have created fortunes for Amazon and Taylor Swift, arguing it divides the nation into those who celebrate entrepreneurial genius and those who decry systemic inequity.

The IPO is thus more than a financial event; it is a referendum on the public market’s appetite for Musk’s grand interplanetary gamble. Should it succeed, it will not only mint a new class of billionaires among early backers but also reshape passive investing and provoke further soul-searching on concentrated wealth. For now, the countdown to 12 June ticks on, with the world watching whether this $2 trillion wager will lift off or reveal itself as a flight of fancy.