Friday marked the official Nasdaq debut of SpaceX (SPCX.US), led by Tesla Motors (TSLA.US) CEO Elon Musk, with its opening share price surging more than 11% to $150.

The company's initial public offering priced approximately 556 million shares at $135 each, raising $75 billion and implying a valuation of around $1.77 trillion, securing its place as the largest IPO in U.S. capital market history.

Market Focus Shifts to Strategic Integration

On its first trading day, market attention extended beyond the record-breaking fundraising. With SpaceX now a public entity, investors are increasingly focused on a long-standing topic of Wall Street discussion: the potential for future integration between Musk's two core assets, SpaceX and Tesla Motors.

This speculation gained momentum following comments by SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell in a pre-IPO media interview. Shotwell stated there is "no question there is synergy" between Tesla Motors and SpaceX, noting that the future objectives both companies are striving towards are increasingly converging.

She remarked, half-jokingly, that merging the two companies "might make life a little easier for Elon." While Shotwell later downplayed the likelihood of a near-term deal, emphasizing the current focus remains on rocket production, launch missions, International Space Station projects, and Starlink's global internet expansion, her comments on synergy quickly captured market attention.

Strategic Hints and Deepening Ties

The market conjecture was not solely based on Shotwell's remarks. According to SpaceX's latest updated IPO filing, the company may issue "significant equity" in the future for potential acquisitions and strategic transactions.

Simultaneously, Shotwell explicitly stated that mergers and acquisitions will be part of the company's future development path, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence. Against the backdrop of rapid AI infrastructure investment expansion, many investors speculate that SpaceX might leverage its public platform for larger-scale capital operations in the future.

Within Musk's vast business empire, the company with the greatest potential for synergy with SpaceX is undoubtedly Tesla Motors. In fact, deep operational links already exist between the two firms. The IPO prospectus reveals that Tesla Motors currently holds a stake in SpaceX. Both companies are also jointly involved in the advanced chip manufacturing project named Terafab.

Furthermore, SpaceX purchased approximately $131 million worth of Cybertruck electric pickups in 2025. Media data indicates that since 2023, Tesla Motors has cumulatively sold around $890 million worth of vehicles, batteries, and energy storage products to SpaceX and its affiliated entity xAI.

Diverging Views on a Potential Merger

As AI becomes the new core of Musk's business empire, the strategic connections between the two companies are strengthening. Tesla Motors is accelerating its transformation into an AI and robotics company, while SpaceX, beyond its commercial space business, is expanding the Starlink satellite internet network and gradually entering the AI infrastructure and computing power market through the integration of xAI, Grok, and social platform X.

Regarding a potential future merger, Wall Street opinions are clearly divided. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives is among the staunchest proponents, having previously stated that the probability of the two companies integrating around 2027, following SpaceX's listing, is as high as 80% to 90%.

Ives believes that if integration were to occur, Tesla Motors' autonomous driving data, robotics business, and vast end-user base would complement SpaceX's satellite communication network, global internet coverage capability, and AI infrastructure, thereby creating a complete ecosystem spanning data, computing power, communication, and application layers.

However, other institutions hold opposing views. Oppenheimer argues that maintaining separate listed statuses is more aligned with Musk's long-term strategy. The firm notes that as AI infrastructure construction enters a high-investment phase, having multiple independent financing platforms could offer greater capital flexibility. Rather than a direct merger, the two sides are more likely to deepen cooperation in areas like data centers, energy storage, servers, and AI infrastructure.

Valuation Debates and Market Enthusiasm

Beyond strategic debates, there is also significant divergence regarding SpaceX's valuation itself. Morningstar released a pre-IPO report stating that, based on its calculations, SpaceX's reasonable valuation is less than half of the IPO valuation. The agency considers the company's market space projections in the prospectus overly optimistic, noting that while Starlink has become its most important revenue source, its long-term growth potential still faces technological and market constraints.

U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren also publicly criticized the SEC's approval of the IPO before the listing, stating that some analysts had already described its financial projections as "unrealistic."

Nevertheless, market enthusiasm has evidently outweighed these skeptical voices. It is reported that the IPO attracted over $350 billion in subscription demand, with institutional investors subscribing for more than $250 billion and retail investors subscribing for over $100 billion.

This IPO also represents a significant wealth milestone for many SpaceX employees. According to calculations by investment platform Hill.com, at the $1.77 trillion valuation, approximately 4,400 current and former employees would become millionaires, with about 400 holding shares worth over $100 million.

Notably, Shotwell stated on Friday that more than half of the employees increased their holdings during the IPO process, totaling nearly $1 billion. She said, "That tells you our employees still believe in the long-term future of the company."

For investors, as SPCX begins trading, a new question is emerging: Is the SpaceX listing merely the beginning of the capitalization of Musk's business empire, or the starting point for a larger-scale integration and expansion plan?