SpaceX stock dropped below its IPO price of $135 on Wednesday for the first time since listing, erasing gains that had pushed shares up more than 50% in early trading. The stock closed at $135.27 after dipping below the offering price that initially valued the company at $2.2 trillion, making it one of the world's most valuable public companies. The IPO raised $86 billion total, the largest in history, and briefly made owner Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire, though his net worth now stands around $800 billion.

Based near Austin, Texas, SpaceX leads global launch services with its Falcon 9 rocket and dominates satellite broadband via Starlink. The company's AI ambitions — including orbiting solar-powered data centers — drove extraordinary IPO interest. Since going public, SpaceX acquired AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion and merged Musk's xAI into the company, now leasing computing power to rivals Anthropic and Google.

Investors worry about spending plans and debt, with further volatility expected as employee lockup shares release — 20% after Q2 results, all expiring in December. The pattern mirrors Meta's 2012 IPO, where shares fell nearly 50% below $38 before recovering after 14 months.