How to buy before the IPO


It’s possible to get in on SpaceX (SPAX.PVT) before its initial public offering (IPO), but there are risks, trade-offs, and heavy fees.

The upcoming SpaceX IPO could happen as early as this June, with a potentially massive 30% retail allocation, with underwriters of major trading platforms providing retail investors with allocations post-IPO.

But for those who want in a little sooner, it’s a little complicated.

The most direct route to SpaceX stock before an IPO is through a private secondary market. These are transactions in which existing shareholders — employees, early investors, or former contractors — sell their vested stock to new buyers. SpaceX does not issue new shares in these deals; investors buy from existing shareholders.

It’s been quite a popular option in recent months.

“SpaceX is consistently one of the most actively traded names on our platform because there’s nothing else like it in the private markets today,” Greg Martin of Rainmaker Securities, which specializes in the secondary markets, told Yahoo Finance. “You’ve got a highly defensible, massive operating scale business, a multitude of major TAM [total addressable market] expansion opportunities, with a continuously evolving story.”

Added Martin, “Demand has also almost always outpaced supply, and that’s been true even during periods where broader secondary market activity has been more muted.”

Shares purchased on secondary markets are typically subject to a lockup period after an IPO — usually 90 to 180 days — during which you cannot sell. This is a standard limitation designed to prevent a flood of supply hitting the market immediately after listing.

Once the lockup expires, shares convert to tradable stock, and owners can sell, hold, or transfer them like any other public company share.

In this image from video provided by NASA, a SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Americans Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev, approaches the International Space Station for docking on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

To participate in private markets, individuals must qualify as accredited investors — meaning they must have income above $200,000 per year (or $300,000 combined with a spouse) for at least two consecutive years or a net worth exceeding $1 million, excluding a primary residence. Investment minimums are steep: Most platforms require at least $50,000 to $100,000 per transaction.

Aside from Rainmaker, other secondary platforms of note include EquityZen, Forge Global, and Hiive. (Disclosure: Yahoo Finance’s Private Market Hub has a partnership with Forge Global and EquityZen.)

Hiive is a newer entrant with real-time pricing data. As of April 2026, Hiive lists SpaceX shares at around $832 per share.

Even Nasdaq, which will most likely list SpaceX stock once it goes public, has its Private Market offering. Nasdaq says it primarily serves institutional and high-net-worth investors, and it tends to facilitate larger block transactions directly from insiders and funds.





Source link