SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic are preparing to go public in what would be the largest IPO wave in history, with combined valuations approaching $3 trillion.
The three companies are targeting listings within months of each other, raising questions about whether public markets can absorb that much new supply at peak valuations.
The $3 Trillion IPO Stress Test
SpaceX filed its confidential draft registration statement with the SEC on April 1, 2026. The company could seek a valuation of $1.75 trillion, with a listing targeting June.
The company has lined up 21 banks to manage the offering, internally codenamed “Project Apex.” If completed, it would raise roughly $75 billion, more than 2.5 times Saudi Aramco’s 2019 record.
OpenAI is targeting Q4 2026 or Q1 2027, with a valuation approaching $1 trillion. Anthropic is in discussions to list as early as Q4 2026, with bankers expecting a raise exceeding $60 billion.
Together, these three companies have a combined market cap of roughly $2.9 trillion. Analyst Tomasz Tunguz noted that at standard float percentages, they would need to raise $432 to $576 billion from public markets in a single quarter.
From 2016 to 2025, the entire U.S. IPO market raised only $469 billion.
Who Gets Left Holding Bags
The concern among skeptics is that early backers have already captured most of the upside. Public investors would be buying in at all-time-high private valuations.
According to a leaked cap table, Microsoft’s roughly $13 billion investment in OpenAI is now worth an estimated $228 billion, a return of approximately 18x.
Smaller funds show even larger multiples, with Sound Ventures reportedly turning $20 to $30 million into $1.3 billion.
OpenAI is projected to lose approximately $14 billion in 2026 alone. Profitability is not expected until 2029 or 2030.
Its CFO, Sarah Friar, has reportedly told colleagues the company is not ready for a public listing, warning that revenue growth will not support current spending plans.
OpenAI’s enterprise API market share fell from 50% in 2023 to 25% by mid-2025, while Anthropic rose from 12% to 32% over the same period.
The IPO Sequencing Battle
Timing matters as much as valuation. OpenAI hopes to list ahead of Anthropic, but Anthropic may have a cleaner story for Wall Street.
Anthropic doubled its annualized revenue from $9 billion to $19 billion in under four months. Roughly 80% of that revenue comes from enterprise customers, a mix that public investors tend to reward more than consumer-heavy revenue.
Anthropic projects positive free cash flow by 2027, while OpenAI has pushed its breakeven target to 2030.
However, neither company is profitable yet. The SEC may also require Anthropic to change how it reports cloud computing credits as revenue, which could affect its headline financial figures before listing.
Whether retail investors get a fair deal or serve as exit liquidity for early backers remains the central question of the 2026 IPO cycle.
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Source: https://beincrypto.com/spacex-openai-anthropic-ipo-wave/
