SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic Poised for Record-Breaking IPOs This Year

"Even a Single IPO Could Surpass Last Year's Entire U.S. Market"
Predictions Suggest One Listing Alone May Exceed the 2025 Total

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Expectations are rising for record-breaking initial public offerings (IPOs) in the U.S. capital markets this year.

According to the Financial Times on December 31 (local time), Elon Musk's space company SpaceX, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) developers OpenAI and Anthropic, are each preparing to go public this year.

SpaceX is reportedly valued at 800 billion dollars (approximately 1.157 trillion won) in current equity trading. OpenAI is currently valued at around 500 billion dollars (about 723 trillion won) in the over-the-counter market, but there are projections that its valuation could rise above 750 billion dollars (about 1.085 trillion won) if it attracts new investment. Anthropic is expected to be valued at 300 billion dollars (about 434 trillion won).

The amount expected to be raised by these three companies through their IPOs is projected to reach tens of billions of dollars. For this reason, there are predictions that even if just one of these companies goes public, it could surpass the entire U.S. IPO market in 2025. As of the third quarter of 2025, the total amount raised by newly listed companies in the U.S. IPO market was about 30 billion dollars (approximately 43.4 trillion won).

Industry experts believe there is a strong likelihood that all three companies will go public in 2026. SpaceX executives recently told investors that, unless there is a major market shock, the company plans to pursue an IPO within the next 12 months. Anthropic has hired the major U.S. law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for its listing, and OpenAI is also in discussions with major law firms regarding its IPO.

However, some point out that external factors remain a variable. The IPO market for large IT companies has temporarily contracted due to President Donald Trump's tariff policies and the impact of the U.S. government shutdown. In addition, concerns about a bubble in the AI industry have recently led to corrections in the share prices of some major tech stocks, further increasing uncertainty.