Veteran banker Uday Kotak reacted to SpaceX’s Wall Street debut, saying the company’s huge valuation doesn’t fit with traditional ways of valuing companies.In a post on X, Kotak wrote: “SpaceX’s IPO, listing, and beyond are a true test of capitalism.
This assessment does not fit into any conventional matrix and represents a huge bet on the future course of the planet.
Only time will tell whether we, the human race, have reached the fairytale world we grew up in as children, or whether we are in a giant bubble.He added: “Either way, kudos to the man who came as an immigrant, and to the country that allowed such boundless creativity to flourish despite all the risks involved.”The Kotak Mahindra Bank founder’s comments came after Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire with SpaceX shares rising following the company’s stock market debut.SpaceX shares jumped more than 19% after the start of trading on Friday. The stock opened at about $150 a share, rose to about $168 and ended the day at just under $161. The closing price gave the company a market value of $2.1 trillion, making SpaceX the sixth-largest listed company in the US and larger than Tesla.According to Forbes, Musk is now worth an estimated $1.1 trillion through his holdings in SpaceX and Tesla.Musk said SpaceX went public to raise money for its future plans, including launching more satellites and data centers into space and eventually building a human colony on Mars.
He marked the start of trading by joining the ceremonial bell ringing at the Nasdaq from Starbase in South Texas.He reiterated his goal of wanting to “make life multiplanetary.”“Not just a few astronauts, I mean literally you,” Musk said. “Whoever you watch this for, SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, to Mars, and eventually beyond.”The company raised $75 billion through its initial public offering after offering shares at $135 per share before the start of trading, surpassing the previous record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019.SpaceX has also talked about plans to build a million-person colony on Mars, establish other outposts in space, launch football field-sized data centers in orbit, and compete with Anthropic and OpenAI in artificial intelligence.Meanwhile, the company continues to spend heavily. Between the beginning of 2025 and March 31, 2026, SpaceX lost $8.7 billion.Some analysts questioned whether the company’s valuation was justified.
Morningstar called the IPO “significantly overvalued” and valued SpaceX at $780 billion, citing technological challenges and competition in artificial intelligence.SpaceX has acknowledged in regulatory filings that parts of its business plans rely on “unproven technologies.” The company also said its artificial intelligence business, xAI, has no clear path to profitability and is burning cash while trying to catch up with competitors.However, many investors remain optimistic.“There’s a lot of hype, but I see investors’ confidence in Musk,” said Yordis Kuru, an IT support contractor in Miami, whose $14,000 investment in SpaceX increased to $17,000 in just a few hours. “I’ll hold on.”As investors celebrate SpaceX’s market debut, Kotak’s comments reflect the larger question surrounding the company: whether its massive valuation represents the future Musk is building or a market that has raced ahead of traditional measures of value.