SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to launch landmark IPOs
Three biggest US private tech groups plan listings as early as this year, raising hopes of windfall for banks, lawyers and investors
The three most valuable private US tech companies are preparing for public offerings as early as this year, raising hopes among their investors and advisers that they may enjoy their most lucrative year ever.
Elon Musk’s rocket maker SpaceX and artificial intelligence labs OpenAI and Anthropic are working on listings expected to raise tens of billions of dollars in proceeds, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of their plans.
Those three deals alone would outstrip the total haul from about 200 US IPOs in 2025 and represent a potential gold mine for investment banks, law firms and investors.
“I can’t recall a crop like this — three private companies which would be among the largest public market caps in the world,” said Peter Hébert, co-founder of venture firm Lux Capital.
“The likelihood of all these companies listing [in 2026] is small, but possible, and would mean an epic bonanza for VCs, bankers and deal attorneys.”
SpaceX executives told investors in recent weeks that the company will go public within the next 12 months unless there is a major market shock, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Anthropic has appointed West Coast law firm Wilson Sonsini to begin preparations.
OpenAI has also been in talks with leading firms, including Cooley, about IPO preparations, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The ChatGPT parent company has not yet selected its legal advisers, according to a person close to the company.
The groups have yet to set IPO valuation targets. OpenAI, which is currently valued at $500bn, is engaged in discussions with investors about a new fundraise at a valuation of $750bn or more. Those talks are at an early stage, but OpenAI is likely to raise tens of billions of dollars in new funds, the people said.
SpaceX is working on a secondary stock sale that would value it at $800bn, according to multiple people with knowledge of the deal.
Anthropic is also in talks for new funding, which investors expect will value the company at more than $300bn.
Hopes for a revival of large tech listings in 2025 faded when Donald Trump launched his sweeping tariffs in April and were set back again by the government shutdown in October.
Figma, Klarna, CoreWeave and Chime were among the technology groups to list in 2025, contributing to a total of more than $30bn in US IPO proceeds in the first nine months, the bulk of it from technology groups, according to EY.
This year’s total is likely to dwarf that sum, if even one of the three big start-ups goes public. SpaceX alone is widely expected to surpass Saudi Aramco’s $29bn raise in 2019 to become the largest public listing.
Those plans could still be knocked off course by unexpected political or economic upheaval — and listings will expose these private groups to a new level of scrutiny.
SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment. OpenAI declined to comment.
Other large private companies are also in contention to go public this year, according to executives and others close to the situation. This includes data analytics group Databricks, which has been valued at $134bn and the $42bn design platform Canva.
Founders Fund, Peter Thiel’s VC firm, invested $20mn into SpaceX in 2008 and has participated in multiple subsequent funding rounds, amassing a stake now worth tens of billions of dollars, while Alphabet also owns a multibillion-dollar position. Khosla Ventures, the earliest venture investor in OpenAI, took a 5 per cent stake in the group in 2019.
In 2025, Anthropic and OpenAI prepared for life on the public markets by appointing executives with experience leading listed companies, tidying up their corporate governance and bringing in large public investors.
Those moves position the groups to an IPO at a time of their choosing, although recent weeks have brought fresh market uncertainty. Oracle and Broadcom are among the large listed groups that have sold off sharply over concerns of an AI bubble forming.
Ryan Biggs, co-head of venture investment at Franklin Templeton, said SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic are so large and well known that their performance will not be wholly subject to the wider market.
“When you have a generational company who is defining their category, I don’t think their decision to go public is a reaction to a macro market view,” he said. “These businesses are so strong that they are the ones driving the macro.”