| Economy & Business, Featured, News & Analysis Five years after Elon Musk pledged to give long-term Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) shareholders priority access to a future space venture IPO, some investors are finally getting their shot. E*TRADE has informed qualifying clients of a supplemental allocation process for SpaceX’s upcoming IPO, targeting investors who have held Tesla shares for at least 10 years. Submit a Press Release or News Tip SpaceX plans to sell 555.6 million shares at $135 each, raising $75 billion and valuing the company at $1.77 trillion, with a fully diluted valuation potentially exceeding $1.8 trillion. The offering is scheduled to price on June 11, with shares expected to begin trading the following day, setting the stage for what could be the largest IPO in history. Investor demand has reportedly been exceptionally strong following a JPMorgan-hosted roadshow, where Musk outlined plans to expand Starlink to more than 100,000 satellites and build orbital AI infrastructure. Analysts involved in the roadshow have apparently been fielding 20 investor calls per day, well above the 10 to 15 calls typically seen for even highly sought-after IPOs. SpaceX’s filing described a $28.5 trillion market opportunity spanning launch services, Starlink connectivity, direct-to-cell communications, and AI infrastructure, calling it the “largest actionable total addressable market in human history.” Fidelity confirmed that SpaceX has reserved up to 30% of the IPO for retail investors, far above the 5% to 10% typically allocated in most high-profile listings, prompting Fidelity to lower eligibility requirements to customers with as little as $2,000 in a brokerage account. The generous retail allocation reflects commitments Musk made publicly as far back as 2020, when he wrote: “I’m a huge fan of small retail investors. Will make sure they get top priority [when SpaceX goes public]. You can hold me to it.” In a separate 2021 post, Musk elaborated on the timeline and his intentions, writing: “At least a few years before Starlink revenue is reasonably predictable. Going public sooner than that would be very painful. Will do my best to give long-term Tesla shareholders preference.” NYU professor Aswath Damodaran, known on Wall Street as the “Dean of Valuation,” estimated SpaceX’s equity value at between $1.25 trillion and $1.35 trillion, below the IPO valuation, calling the company “too richly priced” for his investment style. Damodaran acknowledged that momentum-driven traders may see things differently, writing: “I would not be surprised in the least to see the offering priced at $1.8 trillion, and see a jump in the price on the day of or in the weeks after the offering.” His broader verdict placed the investment squarely in the camp of a personality-driven bet, stating: “There is no denying that this company is a loaded bet on the AI and Elon Musk,” adding that some investors may look at “Musk’s track record with Tesla and feel the odds are in their favor.” A potential path to S&P 500 inclusion hit a wall this week after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would make “no changes” to eligibility requirements following a consultation on newly listed megacap companies. The decision matters because SpaceX reported a $4.94 billion net loss in 2025, and S&P 500 rules require positive GAAP earnings in both the latest quarter and the trailing four quarters. Tesla influencer Alexandra Merz, who posts on X under the handle TeslaBoomerMama, suggested that S&P’s decision may have handed Musk more control over the timeline, writing: “S&P will regret this. Now it’s Elon deciding when SpaceX gets included, by merging with Tesla.” Merz argued that a future stock-for-stock merger between SpaceX and Tesla could allow a combined entity to inherit Tesla’s existing S&P 500 membership, though no such transaction has been proposed by either company. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for TSLA has remained mostly bearish over the past six months, with message volumes declining more than 60% over the past year, even as the stock posted its best monthly performance since September 2025 in May. TSLA has fallen roughly 7% so far this year, making it the second-worst performer among its Magnificent Seven peers, leaving investors to weigh whether the SpaceX IPO can reignite enthusiasm for Musk’s broader portfolio of companies. Share: