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Musk Is the World’s First Trillionaire. Who Was the First Billionaire?

John D. Rockefeller, the Gilded Age oil baron, became America’s first billionaire in 1916. Like Elon Musk’s ascension, the milestone made headlines.

© Associated Press

John D. Rockefeller Sr., in Lakewood, N.J., in 1933. Rockefeller, the Gilded Age oil baron, became a billionaire in 1916.
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SpaceX’s Unlikely Journey From Far-Out Idea to $2 Trillion Juggernaut

Elon Musk said he had initially given SpaceX less than a 10 percent chance of succeeding. His rocket company has come a long way.

© Andres Kudacki for The New York Times

A SpaceX ad on the Nasdaq MarketSite tower in Times Square. The company, which Elon Musk founded in 2002, began trading on the stock market on Friday.
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Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire as SpaceX Stock Begins Trading

With SpaceX shares soaring 20 percent on their first day of trading, the world’s richest person crossed another milestone — one with 13 digits.

© Adrees Latif/Reuters

Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, in 2022 at the company’s facility in Brownsville, Texas.
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The Consequences of SpaceX’s Trillion-Dollar I.P.O.

SpaceX’s trading debut is expected to smash records. Wall Street is watching to see what else it disrupts.

© Steve Nesius/Reuters

SpaceX’s market debut today is expected to be a watershed moment for Wall Street.
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SpaceX Finalizes IPO Price at $135 a Share in World’s Largest Public Offering

Elon Musk’s rocket company said it would sell more than 555 million shares at $135 each in its blockbuster initial public offering, which is set to begin trading on Friday.

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SpaceX will begin trading publicly on Friday under the ticker symbol SPCX.
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Absent From the SpaceX and OpenAI I.P.O.s? Chinese Investors.

SpaceX will not raise money from investors in China and Hong Kong. Others firms, like OpenAI, may follow suit.

© Eric Gay/Associated Press

A Starship test flight at the SpaceX’s Starbase in Texas last month. Investors in China are expected to be excluded from the SpaceX initial public offering.
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Skeptics Question Whether SpaceX Is Worth $1.77 Trillion

Elon Musk’s rocket company is spending big and losing money. That has raised questions about whether it can justify its valuation for its blockbuster initial public offering.

© John Raoux/Associated Press

SpaceX has set an initial public offering price of $135 a share, which would value it at $1.77 trillion. Some investors are skeptical that the valuation is justified.
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The SpaceX Shareholder at the Helm of a Multibillion-Dollar Payout

Justin Fishner-Wolfson, long a minor figure in Elon Musk’s orbit, is at the helm of a multibillion-dollar payout

© Aaron Wojack for The New York Times

Justin Fishner-Wolfson’s firm now owns more than 1 percent of SpaceX, worth roughly $20 billion at the company’s expected $1.77 trillion valuation at its listing price.
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Can SpaceX Defy A.I. Gravity?

Elon Musk’s rockets-and-artificial-intelligence company is going public as questions grow over the incredible spending spree taking place in the sector.

© Gabriel V. Cardenas/Reuters

SpaceX’s launchpad for its Starship rocket in March. Investors may be more focused on the company’s artificial intelligence business.
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How Tesla’s Stock Listing in 2010 Enabled SpaceX’s I.P.O.

Investors who bought the automaker’s shares in its initial public offering became rich. As a result, many have a deep faith in Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX.

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During Tesla’s initial public offering in 2010, Elon Musk, the company’s chief executive, said, “The smartest money in the world is betting on Tesla.”
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Investors Feed A.I. Firms’ Voracious Appetite for New Money

In the race to dominate the artificial intelligence industry, companies like SpaceX and Alphabet are borrowing cash and raising equity from investors at the fastest pace in decades.

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The amount of cash needed for A.I. development is thought to be so enormous that already cash-rich companies are looking for more money.
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Antonio Gracias, Elon Musk’s Friend, Is Set to Reap Billions From SpaceX’s IPO

Antonio Gracias, an investor who has built a $65 billion stake in the company, exemplifies the economic upside of being Mr. Musk’s ally.

© Jim Vondruska for The New York Times

Antonio Gracias, left, and Elon Musk at a political event in Green Bay, Wis., last spring. Mr. Gracias and his private equity firm control a $65 billion stake in SpaceX.
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SpaceX’s IPO Could Turn 4,400 Employees Into Millionaires

While Elon Musk may soon become a trillionaire, his rocket company’s market debut is set to the change the lives of its current and former employees, too.

© Chelsea Beck

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