As Elon Musk prepares for what will likely be the biggest listing in history, some top-tier bankers assisting with SpaceX’s public debut are lining up to sing Musk’s praises ahead of the big day.
SpaceX is targeting a price of $135 per share when the company goes public—which could happen as early as next week. Such pricing could raise a record-setting $75 billion, and potentially turn Musk into the world’s very first trillionaire. A successful IPO would also likely be very good business for the legion of banks gearing their investors up for a potentially blockbuster series of public listings through the rest of the year. And one unlikely ally on his side is JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who, despite their public feud years ago, is now singing Musk’s praises.
“Elon is the Edison of our time,” Dimon said during a virtual interview with Musk Thursday, part of a roadshow event hosted by the bank at its Manhattan headquarters and attended by several thousands of the bank’s high-net-worth clients.
“It’s been an extraordinary 24 years watching Elon grow over time, and now making a massive leap into the future,” Dimon told Musk during the event. The interview opened with an in-person special guest appearance from his mother, Maye Musk, who similarly lavished praise on her son’s seemingly prodigal vision for the future as a child.
“When you were three years old and I told people, ‘I have a genius son,’ they would roll their eyes,” she said. “When you said you wanted to start with rockets, then I rolled my eyes. And then, you did it.”
A congratulatory introduction from his mother is one thing, but Dimon’s words might have surprised Musk just a few years ago. The pair were involved in a well-publicized feud over the past few years—which included a $162 million lawsuit filed by JPMorgan against Tesla, Musk’s electric car company, in 2021 over an alleged contract breach regarding stock warrants. The bank dropped its lawsuit last year.
But Dimon started putting on a charm offensive as early as the World Economic Forum in January of this year, well before SpaceX’s lucrative IPO was a reality. “The guy is our Einstein,” Dimon said of Musk during a CNBC interview in Davos, adding that the two had patched up their disagreement.
“I’d like to be helpful to him and his companies as much as we can,” Dimon said. In April, SpaceX would go on to confidentially file for an IPO.
To navigate the blockbuster offering, SpaceX has tapped some of Wall Street’s most elite names to underwrite, publicize, and advise on the entire affair. Earlier this year, SpaceX reportedly was working with at least 21 banks in preparation for the IPO, including heavyweights such as JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. Over the past few months, these institutions have taken on the job of pitching investors, distributing shares ahead of the public listing date, and creating buzz for the company and its mission.
That publicity role has taken on even more importance this week during SpaceX’s IPO roadshow, the pre-listing window when companies and their backers deliver final pitches to investors and turn the hype machine into high gear through a marketing blitz and high-profile media appearances.
Musk, known for his demanding leadership style and divisive politics, also sought to soften his image somewhat during the interview with Dimon.
“I think I’m probably more chill than I used to be,” said the man whose previous stunts included taking a “chainsaw for bureaucracy” to the stage at CPAC just a year ago. “Not that laid-back, but more than I used to be.”
JPMorgan isn’t the only financial institution to have sung SpaceX’s praises of late. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley recently redecorated their headquarters’ lobbies with SpaceX branding and paraphernalia. Bank of America has organized launch parties of the scale usually hosted by Hollywood celebrities, and lit up the spire of its Manhattan skyscraper to resemble a rocket take-off. Several banks have circulated notes and research projecting massive revenue projections for the space exploration company and high promise for investors, including one recent Morgan Stanley note forecasting SpaceX to notch $3.4 trillion in revenue in 2040.
The banks involved with SpaceX’s listing have a strong incentive for investors to get excited. Despite SpaceX reportedly playing hardball in negotiating its fees with banks, the consortium of institutions propping up the IPO are still on track to rake in $500 million from the offering. Several of the banks working with SpaceX might also be playing a long game. Institutions including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are also preparing to pitch highly anticipated IPOs for OpenAI and Anthropic later this year, making a successful SpaceX debut just the start of what would potentially be a lucrative second half of the year.
