Banks Took About $500M From SpaceX Despite 0.7% Fee

SpaceX raised $75 billion by selling 555.6 million shares at $135 each, valuing the company near $1.77 trillion at the offer price. Shares climbed about 19% on the first trading day to close near $161, which pushed the company’s market value above $2 trillion during the debut.

The underwriting fee amounted to roughly 0.7% of proceeds, creating a fee pool of about $500 million shared by 21 banks. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley each captured about 20% of the pool, near $100 million apiece, with Goldman listed as lead-left manager on the prospectus. Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase each received roughly $75 million; smaller syndicate members took $10 million or less.

SpaceX negotiated a zero-fee arrangement on the roughly $11 billion greenshoe option, which reduced the immediate fee paid to the banks for that portion of the transaction.

The 0.7% gross spread was well below common underwriting rates. Fees on smaller offerings often cluster near 7%, and even the largest listings rarely carry spreads under 1%. By comparison, banks earned about 1.2% on a major 2014 offering and about 0.25% on a 2019 sale.

Investor demand for the SpaceX offering topped $350 billion in orders, with institutional bids exceeding $250 billion. Large asset managers were active, with one firm seeking about $5 billion.

Banks competed for the mandate despite the thin upfront margin. Lead banks are positioned to earn trading commissions as shares change hands and may expand lending and advisory work tied to institutional holders in the months ahead.