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SpaceX lifted off on its first day as a public company<\/a>, immediately jumping to $150 a share after it began trading on the Nasdaq, around 11% higher than the $135 figure at which it officially priced its IPO on Thursday. <\/p>\n The stock price reached as high as $176 in midday trading, pushing the company\u2019s market capitalization to nearly $2.3 trillion, before ultimately settling 19% higher at $160.95 as markets closed.<\/p>\n The stock pop isn\u2019t a surprise. The company\u2019s IPO was oversubscribed by 4x, according to Bloomberg<\/a>, meaning many institutional investors didn\u2019t receive allocations and are likely buying shares on the open market.<\/p>\n The demand for SpaceX is also a function of its small float, with only about 4% of shares available for public trading, while early investors and employees hold the rest. SpaceX also successfully lobbied a number of indexes (like the Nasdaq 100) to change their inclusion rules. The company will now join those indexes in a matter of days, not months, increasing demand for SpaceX stock before other large institutions and funds start automatically buying it.<\/p>\n Robinhood<\/a> said it has seen \u201crecord-breaking\u201d traffic on its trading platform Friday in the hours after SpaceX\u2019s historic public markets debut.<\/p>\n The debut is also one of the largest windfalls in the history of venture capital. The returns to Founders Fund, which invested $600 million in the company and owns a 3% stake, are estimated at more than $50 billion at the IPO price of $135, according to Bloomberg<\/a>. Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz\u2019s stake is worth more than $10 billion, and Sequoia\u2019s is valued at over $20 billion.<\/p>\n Debuting at $150 made founder Elon Musk the world\u2019s first trillionaire<\/a>. The New York Times has reported that around 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees will become millionaires, while around 400 will become centimillionaires.<\/p>\n The original version of this article was published at 11 a.m. ET. The article has been updated with a new share price and other information. <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n