SpaceX Lowballed Its Bankers — and Goldman and Morgan Stanley Still Walked Off With $100M Each

SpaceX squeezed its bankers harder than almost any blue-chip issuer in memory, agreeing to pay underwriters a fee of just 0.7% on the largest stock-market debut ever recorded. And it still wasn't enough to dent the payday: the banks distributing the shares are splitting roughly $646 million, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley each carrying off about $100 million.

What Happened

Elon Musk's rocket company priced its IPO at $135 a share, selling 555.6 million shares for about $75 billion. With the standard 15% over-allotment that banks almost always exercise when demand runs hot, the full raise climbs to roughly 639 million shares and just over $86 billion. That values SpaceX near $1.75 trillion — the biggest IPO valuation on record by a wide margin.

Demand showed up exactly as the bankers bet it would. SPCX opened to a frenzy and closed its first session on June 12 at $161, a 19% jump from the offer price. A pop like that on a deal this size is the kind of thing underwriters put in pitch books for the next decade.

Why the 0.7% Stings (and Why the Banks Don't Care)

For context, a typical large-cap IPO pays underwriters somewhere between 1% and 3%, and smaller deals routinely hand over 5% to 7%. SpaceX's 0.7% is a rounding error by comparison — a reminder that when you're the most coveted listing on the planet, you get to set the terms. Musk effectively dared Wall Street to work for a discount, and Wall Street lined up anyway.

It lined up because 0.7% of $86 billion is still an enormous number. Goldman Sachs sits in the coveted 'lead left' slot at the top of the prospectus and takes home about $100 million. Morgan Stanley, which is steering the post-IPO stabilization process, matches that. Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase each pulled in roughly $75 million as lead underwriters. Thin margins, fat absolute checks.

Why It Matters for Crypto

A blowout debut for the most hyped private company on Earth is a loud risk-on signal, and crypto trades the same appetite. Money willing to chase a $1.75 trillion space stock on day one is money comfortable with volatility — and that mood tends to spill into Bitcoin and the majors. Bitcoin has been grinding back toward the mid-$60Ks even as the broader macro picture stays murky, and a marquee IPO that prints green is exactly the sort of confidence boost bulls point to.

The flip side: when the splashiest deals soak up this much capital and attention, traders watch for liquidity getting pulled out of speculative corners — crypto included — and rotated into the new shiny thing. For now, the takeaway is simpler. SpaceX proved a marquee name can dictate terms to Goldman Sachs and still send the bankers home rich, and the market cheered loudly enough that risk assets everywhere felt the warmth.

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