SpaceX is poised to be the biggest IPO ever. Here are the top U.S. deals to date

Cnbc · 🇺🇸 public United States · May 20, 2026 · 1068 words · By Samantha Subin

Tech Industry Trends Financial Markets SpaceX IPO

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What to know about Tech Industry Trends

When SpaceX finally debuts on the Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol SPCX, it will almost certainly set a record for the largest offering ever.

Claims checked 27

Techniques found 2

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

When SpaceX finally debuts on the Nasdaq, under the ticker symbol SPCX, it will almost certainly set a record for the largest offering ever.

Why it matters

Elon Musk's reusable rocket maker filed its long-awaited IPO prospectus on Wednesday.

Common ground

The company didn't say how much it plans to raise but is reportedly aiming to reel in around $75 billion.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Exaggeration / Hyperbole: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Tech Industry Trends story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that The payments company raised $17.8 billion [in 2008]?
What happens next if the deal stalls, and who has the power to restart talks?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/20/spacex-is-the-biggest-ipo-ever-these-debuts-also…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Exaggeration / Hyperbole 70% confidence

Overstating facts or claims to create a stronger emotional response.

Why it matters: Recognizing exaggeration / hyperbole helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 27 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 17

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

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Claim 1: “The payments company raised $17.8 billion [in 2008]”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Visa's 2008 IPO amount.

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Claim 2: “The next largest U.S. IPOs were from Visa, which raised nearly $18 billion in 2008, Enel SpA's $16.5 billion deal in 1999, and Facebook's $16 billion 2012 debut.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim discusses Alibaba's bonds and general success but does not provide the specific figures or dates for Visa, Enel SpA, or Facebook's IPOs to verify the ranking.

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web search NEUTRAL — In February 2021, Alibaba sold $5 billion in bonds, the company's third large sale of dollar bonds, issuing four sets priced to yield between 2.143% and 3.251%. The four sets of bonds were $1.5 billio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group

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web search NEUTRAL — Following its U.S. IPO, Alibaba raised $25 billion and has since become one of the world’s most valuable tech companies. It also ranks among some of China’s state-owned enterprises as one of the count…
https://www.ironfx.com/en/alibaba-group-holding-ltd-baba/

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web search NEUTRAL — Discover the top 10 largest IPOs of all time.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011215/top-1…

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Claim 3: “the government of Italy still owns close to a quarter of the company.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “Twitter was taken private by Musk in 2022, before changing its name to X and then being acquired by xAI, which is now owned by SpaceX.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 5: “the stock has lost well over half its value since peaking in October 2020”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of general company descriptions of Alibaba and does not contain stock price data or peak values from October 2020.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded as Alibaba (/ ˌæliˈbɑːbə, ˌɑː -/), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. Founded on 28 June…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group

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web search NEUTRAL — Find quality Manufacturers, Suppliers, Exporters, Importers, Buyers, Wholesalers, Products and Trade Leads from our award-winning International Trade Site. Import & Export on alibaba.com.
https://www.alibaba.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Launched in 1999 as the first business of Alibaba Group, Alibaba.com has evolved into a leading platform for global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce.
https://www.alibabagroup.com/en-US/about-alibaba-businesses-…

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Claim 6: “The Chinese tech and e-commerce giant raised $21.8 billion when it debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014”

CORROBORATED

Renaissance Capital and other reports specifically cite the $21.8 billion figure for Alibaba's 2014 NYSE debut.

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Claim 7: “Rivian's IPO in late 2021 raised $11.9 billion”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 8: “Visa shares reached a closing high of $373.31 in June and are now trading at around $330.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding Visa's specific stock price highs in June or current trading price.

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Claim 9: “Cerebras gave Wall Street a chance to get in on AI hardware with its Nasdaq listing last week, the biggest tech offering since Uber's IPO in 2019.”

CORROBORATED

Three separate web search results confirm that Cerebras listed on the Nasdaq, raised $5.55 billion, and was the largest U.S. tech IPO since Uber in 2019.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Cerebras Systems priced its IPO at $185 per share on May 13, 2026, raising $5.55 billion in the largest U.S. technology market debut since Uber in 2019.Mark Kembel’s Coverstory. Travis LeFever Coverst…
https://www.mirrorreview.com/news/cerebras-ipo/

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web search NEUTRAL — Cerebras raised more than $5.5 billion on Thursday, making its listing the largest U.S. tech IPO since Uber in 2019. (Its shares pulled back on Friday as tech stocks as a whole took a breather.) While…
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/ai-mega-ipos-are-on-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — For one day, Cerebras was the hottest stock in tech. Then reality showed up. The AI chip startup raised $5.55 billion in its Nasdaq debut on Thursday, the biggest U.S. tech IPO since Uber went public …
https://www.briefs.co/news/cerebras-just-pulled-off-the-bigg…

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Claim 10: “Meta... now valued at about $1.5 trillion.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 11: “AT&T... is the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., behind Verizon and T-Mobile.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 12: “AT&T's spinoff of its wireless business raked in $10.6 billion in its April 2000 offering.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 13: “the company raised about $16 billion [in 2012], instantly setting its market value at about $100 billion.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 14: “the company... is reportedly aiming to reel in around $75 billion.”

SINGLE SOURCE

Only the CNBC cross-reference mentions the specific target of raising $75 billion for a 2026 IPO; other search results for SpaceX do not mention this figure.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX, NASA, and the United States Armed Forces work closely together by means of governmental contracts. [11] SpaceX was founded by Elon Musk in 2002 with a vision of decreasing the costs of space l…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

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web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other…
https://www.spacex.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · SpaceX is now targeting a Thursday, May 21, launch for its newest Starship design, the Starship V3 megarocket. See our latest updates here.
https://www.space.com/news/live/spacex-starship-flight-12-la…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 15: “About a year earlier, the company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 16: “investing over $14 billon in Scale AI last year and bringing its CEO, Alexandr Wang, in-house.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 17: “Elon Musk's reusable rocket maker filed its long-awaited IPO prospectus on Wednesday.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (CNBC, CNN Business, and other web search results) confirm that SpaceX filed its IPO prospectus on Wednesday.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX filed for an initial public offering on Wednesday, revealing its finances and board members for the first time.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/20/business/spacex-files-for-sto…

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web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX filed for its long-awaited IPO on Wednesday, disclosing a net loss of $4.9 billion on $18.7 billion in revenue last year.The company’s prospectus offers the first audited public look at how Sta…
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-fil…

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web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX IPO Filing to Arrive Wednesday: Report.Also working on the IPO will be Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan. SpaceX could publicly disclose its prospectus as soon as Wednesd…
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…

+ 1 more evidence source

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Claim 18: “Last year, the company slashed about a third of its workforce as it sold off some retail operations.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources report workforce reductions; specifically, one source mentions a 34% reduction in 2025 to focus on AI, and another mentions 19,000 employees last year.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Alibaba reduced its workforce by about 19,000 employees last year as it adapted to a global economic chill and shifted focus to cost efficiency.
https://slashdot.org/story/23/02/23/149236/alibaba-reduced-w…

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web search NEUTRAL — Alibaba reduced its workforce by approximately 34% during 2025 as the company disposed of peripheral retail holdings to focus on artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The latest earnings showed…
https://www.bushletter.com/alibaba-workforce-shrinks-34-perc…

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web search NEUTRAL — Alibaba also reduced its workforce in the first three months of the year by 4,375, mirroring widespread moves among global tech companies to rein in spending at a time of rising inflation, materials c…
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/alib…

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Claim 19: “When it went public in November 1999, the Italian multinational utility raised nearly $16.5 billion”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 20: “In 2021, Facebook rebranded to Meta”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 21: “The company, which owns a majority stake in U.S. wireless provider T-Mobile, is currently teaming up with Elon Musk and SpaceX's Starlink on satellite mobile services in 10 European countries”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 22: “In the automaker's return to the public market in November 2010, General Motors raised $15.8 billion.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 23: “In 2014, the company installed Mary Barra as CEO, the first time a female held the top position at one of the major U.S. automakers.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 24: “In 2004, Cingular, a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth, bought AT&T Wireless.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 25: “In March, Uber invested $1.25 billion in Rivian for up to 50,000 robotaxis over the next five years.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 26: “the biggest U.S. IPO to date, which was Alibaba's $22 billion offering in 2014.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including Renaissance Capital and a news report, confirm Alibaba's 2014 IPO raised approximately $21.8 billion and was the biggest U.S. IPO at the time.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — On 18 September 2014, Alibaba's IPO priced at US$68, raising US$25 billion for the company and investors.[28][29] Alibaba was the biggest IPO in history, bigger than Google, Facebook, and Twitter comb…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group

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web search NEUTRAL — Chinese e-commerce and media giant Alibaba Group priced its initial public offering Thursday at $68 per share, set to raise about $21.8 billion in what would mark the biggest U.S. IPO ever, per multip…
https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/alibaba-raises-nearly-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Largest US IPOs of The Year. Company. Offer Date. Exchange.Below are some of the largest IPOs in history: 1. Alibaba (2014). Amount Raised: $21.8 billion. Valuation: $175 billion. Sector: Technology. …
https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/Stats/Largest-…

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Claim 27: “European telecom giant Deutsche Telekom raised more than $13 billion when it debuted on the NYSE in November 1996.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.