NPR.

SpaceX is preparing to go public later this week.

The debut will mint SpaceX is one of the largest companies in the world.

It will be the biggest initial public offering or

IPO ever. This big splash in the markets leads to some big questions. Like, will this company

really extend human consciousness beyond Earth? And more earthly questions, like, is SpaceX receiving

special treatment from its stock exchange?

That's the question we're focusing on. This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Ricky Mulvey.

And I'm Deriam Woods. Today on the show, we're looking at the SpaceX IPO and a rule change that

turns math upside down. One now apparently equals three. We promise you don't have to do math. We've got

all of it after the break.

SpaceX stock is hitting public markets, or really a sliver of the company, is hitting public

markets. SpaceX is offering about 4% of its shares in its IPO.

The rest of the company is still owned beyond the reach of the public by Elon Musk,

SpaceX employees, and private investors.

Alex Maturi is the former CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices. You may own a piece of that company's hit

index, the S&P 500.

Alex says the reasons why a company goes public has changed.

Historically, IPOs were a way of raising capital.

So when a company went public, they're much, much smaller.

An IPO has always been a way to cash out earlier investors, but companies used to issue public

stock to build factories and expand their businesses.

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