S&P Global, the creator of the S&P 500 index, has announced that it will keep its existing index eligibility requirements unchanged despite consultations on potential reforms with SpaceX.
The decision, reported by Reuters, marks a notable setback for Elon Musk’s company, which is preparing what could become the largest initial public offering in history on June 12.
Namely, the space company is seeking to raise $75 billion at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion, a figure that would place it among the 10 most valuable publicly traded companies in the country.
However, S&P Global said it would not relax key requirements for SpaceX S&P 500 admission, given that mere market cap is not enough for the company to make the cut.
“Exceptions to the financial viability, seasoning, and investable weight factor (IWF) requirements should not be granted solely based on market capitalization,” S&P Global wrote.
SpaceX market cap is not enough for S&P 500
Under the existing, and unchanged, rules, all companies looking to join the S&P 500 must be profitable under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the trailing four wquarters.
Having reported a net loss of $4.94 billion in 2025, despite revenue rising 33% year-over-year to $18.67 billion, SpaceX does not meet that requirement.
S&P Global had consulted investors on proposals to ease entry for newly listed megacaps, such as eliminating profitability criteria, but the outcome preserves the longstanding rules, preventing SpaceX from gaining immediate access to one of the world’s most influential equity benchmarks.
This is noteworthy because passive index funds tracking the S&P 500, with trillions of dollars under management, would have been required to purchase SpaceX shares upon its inclusion.
However, while the SpaceX S&P 500 inclusion has been thwarted, rival index providers have taken a different approach. For example, NASDAQ has already introduced changes designed to accelerate the inclusion of newly public megacaps such as SpaceX into the Nasdaq-100.
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