SpaceX selects Gibson Dunn and Davis Polk for IPO

SpaceX has taken a significant step toward its anticipated public debut by appointing legal counsel for its initial public offering. Sources familiar with the plans indicate that the aerospace company has hired Gibson Dunn to represent its interests, while the underwriting banks have selected Davis Polk & Wardwell for legal advisory. This move is one of the first concrete actions taken when preparing for a public listing in the United States. A confidential filing for the IPO could be submitted as soon as this month, potentially valuing the company at $1.75 trillion. Such a valuation would establish SpaceX as one of the most valuable entities globally, offering public investors their first chance to own shares in Elon Musk’s private space enterprise. In addition to legal counsel, SpaceX has been in discussions with several prominent financial institutions to lead the offering. These include Bank of America Corporation, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley. A successful IPO would likely be one of the most lucrative offerings for the banks involved. The preparations follow the company's recent acquisition of xAI, Musk’s social media and artificial intelligence venture, which was integrated into SpaceX in early February. This consolidation brought the Starlink satellite network, the X platform, and the Grok AI chatbot under a single corporate structure, with a combined valuation of $1.25 trillion at the time. The selection of Davis Polk brings substantial experience to the deal, as the firm has previously advised on major U.S. listings including Uber Technologies, Inc. and Arm Holdings. This activity coincides with a broader trend of anticipated mega-offerings from other artificial intelligence companies, such as Anthropic and OpenAI, as the market for public debuts gains momentum.