(June 12): Elon Musk’s SpaceX made history with the biggest initial public offering (IPO) of all time, but there’s at least one metric where the deal falls short.
The IPO of Space Exploration Technologies Corp, as the rocket, satellite and artificial-intelligence company is formally called, drew more than US$100 billion ($128.37 billion) of orders from retail investors, people familiar with the matter have said. While the bids are enormous by most standards, they still pale in comparison to some of the hottest IPOs in mainland China and Hong Kong.
In Shanghai, Chinese chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai Co’s IPO in late 2025 drew roughly three trillion yuan (US$444 billion or $570 billion) in bids from mom-and-pop investors. In Hong Kong, the US$511 million IPO of bubble-tea chain Mixue Group last year drew more than HK$1.8 trillion (US$230 billion or $290 billion) worth of orders from retail investors, the highest subscription amount for that category in at least the past 10 years, according to stock-exchange data tracked by TradeGo FinTech Ltd.
Driving the fervour over IPOs in mainland China are stellar first-day gains, which are practically guaranteed by regulatory efforts to keep debut valuations artificially low. And the process resembles a lottery. With no upfront payment required, millions join bids on the chance of winning shares at minimal risk.
Across the border in Hong Kong, funded by easy access to broker margin loans, the city’s retail investors routinely use leverage to supercharge their IPO bets, a financial firepower further fuelled by the intense fear of missing out on the next tech giant.
See also: SpaceX shares indicated over 35% higher in shadow trading
First-time share sales in Hong Kong have altogether drawn above HK$16 trillion worth of retail orders so far this year, TradeGo data shows. That is almost equal to the demand mom-and-pop investors expressed in all Hong Kong listings last year.
SpaceX’s IPO hasn’t been available to investors based in mainland China and Hong Kong, as underwriters were told not to accept orders from both locations due to US restrictions around the export of critical technology, people familiar with the matter have said.
Driving listings in Hong Kong and mainland China this year are companies along the supply chain for the artificial intelligence buildout, where China and the US are competing for technological dominance. Maiden share sales in Hong Kong are poised to top US$43 billion this year, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, in what would be a six-year high.
See also: SpaceX IPO raises US$75 bil in biggest debut of all time
In mainland China, the securities regulator has selectively been reopening the IPO floodgates after it started limiting new listings in 2023. Among those in the pipeline are memory chip giant ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc, which plans to raise at least 29.5 billion yuan, and LandSpace Technology Co, China’s own rocket maker.
Uploaded by Chng Shear Lane
