HAWTHORNE, Calif. — SpaceX''s record-shattering IPO put the company on the public market, but one of the most striking parts of the debut is what did not hit the market: roughly 95% of its stock. After raising about $86 billion by selling just a 4-5% sliver, SpaceX built one of the most carefully staged share-release schedules in history — and it gives the new stock an unusual cushion of stability.
For a company that has spent two decades doing things its own way, the lock-up is a fitting final flourish on the biggest IPO ever completed.
Locked behind bars, on purpose
Standard post-IPO lock-ups run 180 days. SpaceX went further, spreading insider sales across 15 separate dates tied to earnings reports and stock-price milestones so that shares trickle out rather than flood in. Analysts who track IPOs called it one of the most complicated lock-up structures they have ever seen — and, crucially, one designed to protect the share price from a sudden wave of selling. That kind of engineered scarcity has helped underpin demand that pushed the stock higher, echoing the bullish thesis behind Wedbush''s Outperform initiation on SPCX.
The gated approach signals confidence: the people who know SpaceX best are staying invested through its first quarters as a public company, exactly the reassurance new shareholders want.
The Musk factor
At the center sits Elon Musk, who holds about 6.4 billion shares and roughly 82% of the voting power. Musk cannot sell a single share for 366 days, with no early-release provisions at all. IPO experts note his history with Tesla, where he has consistently held and borrowed against his stake rather than sell, and several predicted he may not part with any SpaceX stock — and could even buy more when other shares unlock.
That dynamic gives SPCX what one analyst described as a full year of ballast, a stretch during which the largest holder is contractually committed to holding. Combined with mechanical index demand — SPCX is set to draw billions in buying as it joins the Nasdaq-100 on July 7 — the setup leaves relatively little stock available to trade against strong demand.
A launchpad for more deals
Being public also hands Musk a liquid currency for acquisitions. Days after listing, SpaceX exercised an option to buy AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion in stock, and investors expect more deals that could compound the company''s value, especially through its xAI unit. Fortune detailed how the gated lock-up is designed to keep billions of shares from pressuring the price.
SpaceX priced at $135, opened at $150, briefly ran to $226 and now trades near $162 for a market capitalization around $2.61 trillion. With most of its float still locked, a committed founder and index buying on the way, SpaceX enters its second month as a public company with the kind of structural support most newly listed firms can only envy.
