SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI: the blockbuster IPOs that could transform public and private markets

It has been seven years since the last mega-IPO rocked markets, and after a period of muted activity, 2026 is shaping up to mark the return of blockbuster IPOs, with three potentially on the horizon.

On 20 May, SpaceX, the private aerospace and AI conglomerate founded by Elon Musk, filed its formal S-1 registration with the SEC, kicking off the planned record-breaking IPO spree, targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation. As part of its entry to public markets, the company is seeking to raise $75 billion, nearly triple the previous IPO record, at $25.6 billion by Saudi Aramco.

If successful, the SpaceX IPO will eclipse the sum total of all IPO proceeds raised in 2025, and in every year since 1980, other than 2021.

Only a couple of weeks later, on 1 June, Anthropic, the AI firm behind chatbot Claude, filed its confidential draft IPO paperwork, potentially at a $1 trillion valuation – although the full details are yet to be disclosed.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT maker OpenAI is also reportedly preparing for a potential IPO that could raise nearly $60 billion and value the company at over $1 trillion.

What could this mean for investors and for the VC sector as a whole? Could this kick-start a wave of startup funding? How can investors explore this opportunity beyond public markets?

This has catalysed an investor scramble to gain exposure to these companies before they IPO, with a flurry of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) promising access to shares held by employees or early investors, often via complex legal structures.

Alternatively, funds with long-held allocations from previous funding rounds have also seen a surge in demand, particularly those holding portfolios with other highly sought-after startups.

However, beyond the potential for short-term gains in the run-up to these anticipated IPOs, the ripple effect created by their public market debut could result in an influx of new opportunities in the private market.

The three mammoth IPOs could add more than $3 trillion in value to public markets, while providing an exit opportunity for investors and loyal employees.

For the venture capital sector, these blockbuster IPOs could add further support to the sector’s recovery. Venture capital firms and backers may redeploy exit proceeds into new ventures, and employees look to build their own startups, helping to attract new investors into the asset class.

Previous IPOs have also been known to produce vast numbers of new venture investors and startup founders, creating a cycle of capital recycling that has helped to grow the sector.

Take PayPal as an example, which completed an IPO in 2002. Following its $1.5 billion acquisition by eBay later that year, a majority of the first fifty employees departed the firm, with a number becoming investors and founders whose fingerprints can be seen in all three of the upcoming IPOs.

This network effect was soon termed the PayPal Mafia, with one of the most famous members being Elon Musk, who used his exit proceeds to fund the development of Tesla and SpaceX among others. Yet there are many more examples, including LinkedIn, YouTube, Airbnb, OpenAI, Palantir, and Facebook.

Some other IPOs show a similar pattern. Google’s 2004 listing raised $1.67bn and triggered over $19bn of economic activity, and since Google alumni have founded 4,500+ new companies which have attracted over $475bn of funding.

Facebook’s IPO followed on a larger scale, unlocking significant illiquid wealth that flowed into thousands of start-ups. Notably, Peter Thiel turned his $500k stake into $1bn, using the proceeds to expand Founders Fund, which has since backed firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX.

With hundreds of billions set to be realised and distributed, this could provide meaningful irrigation to the venture capital landscape.

Historically the US venture capital asset class would have been limited to institutions or ultra high-net-worth investors, making it difficult for individuals to have direct access to innovative US businesses, and prohibiting them from gaining exposure to this potential upcoming wave of activity.

However, Semi-Liquid Funds have opened private markets, including the venture capital asset class, to eligible private investors. They offer a more liquid alternative to traditional institutional private equity funds, with rolling redemption options and significantly lower minimum investments. However, private markets investments remain inherently long-term and illiquid and redemptions can be restricted.

At Wealth Club, our Private Markets platform enables access to funds from some of the largest managers across the private market spectrum – each reviewed by our in-house research team. These funds include Private Equity, Private Credit, Secondaries, Infrastructure and Venture vehicles, alongside some that invest across a range of strategies.

The minimum investment starts at £8,100, and you can invest directly in each fund or, in many cases, through our new Private Market SIPP, so you can benefit from the tax-efficient structure of a pension.

However, it must be noted that while the opportunities in private markets could seem compelling, they carry distinct and elevated risks. These investments could take many years to generate a return, if at all, and should be approached as long-term commitments. Additionally, they are high-risk investments and vulnerable to heightened levels of pricing uncertainty compared to publicly traded alternatives: you should not invest money you cannot afford to lose.