Gulf sovereigns have loaded up on SpaceX’s world-record IPO — and show no sign they’re backing away from more exposure to AI

The largest IPO in history priced overnight with the Gulf’s sovereign funds well-represented in the order book — and AI investments are at or near the top of each of their target lists for the rest of this year even as analysts and pundits look for signs of a pullback.

UP FIRST: SpaceX has priced the largest IPO in history. Elon Musk’s AI-and-spaceflight company raised USD 75 bn at a fixed USD 135 a share, more than doubling Aramco’s USD 29.4 bn record from 2019, Reuters reports. That values the company at nearly USD 1.8 tn — and makes Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Shares are set to start trading on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX today and analysts expect a debut pop of at least 10%. Underwriters hold an over-allotment option on a further 83.3 mn shares that would take the raise to USD 86 bn if exercised in full.

The book was enormous: Orders had topped USD 250 bn by early this week — approaching four times the shares on offer — and retail investors alone put in some USD 100 bn against a 30% retail carve-out, triple or more what’s typical. The institutional offering was c. 2x oversubscribed, with several investors asking for positions worth USD 10 bn or more, Bloomberg reports.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF placed an order of USD 1-5 bn, the Kuwait Investment Authority matched it, and the Qatar Investment Authority also made a big order, Bloomberg notes. As we noted last week, the Kingdom already owns a piece of SpaceX two ways: AI champion Humain saw its xAI stake converted into SpaceX shares when the two Musk companies merged, a holding that could be worth up to USD 4 bn. PIF also owns 17% of Kingdom Holding, which carries a direct 0.34% SpaceX stake worth some USD 5.7 bn.

What’s next: OpenAI and Anthropic have both filed to list and pundits think the three big AI IPOs could add a combined USD 3.6 tn to US exchanges. Whether today’s debut sets up the Gulf’s second and third AI cashouts is the question we’ll see answered this fall. OpenAI has signaled it is tepid about its listing, but Anthropic is pushing hard for the fall window.

Gulf sovereign funds seem to have plenty more appetite for AI even amid speculation they may have to trim holdings outside the region to shore up investments under stress at home.

Fitch has turned bearish on the region’s sovereigns. The ratings agency flipped its 2026 sovereign outlook to “deteriorating” from neutral in a mid-year outlook report shared with EnterpriseAM, and the Gulf is taking the hardest hit — its ratings watch has turned negative on every sovereign in the region.

The USD 580 bn Qatar Investment Authority hasn’t stopped writing tickets, though: It deployed about USD 1.2 bn a month through May, 14% below its 2025 pace but more than triple its 2024 average of USD 376 mn a month, Bloomberg reports in a piece we think is a must-read this morning. Execs say its USD 20 bn AI venture with Brookfield remains on track.

And the Kuwait Investment Agency is anchoring a USD 10 bn AI infrastructure venture, joining Nvidia, KKR, and US power producer Vistra to launch Helix Digital Infrastructure with more than USD 10 bn in long-duration capital commitments and former AWS CEO Adam Selipsky at the helm. KIA has put about USD 9 bn into AI and digital over the past five years and is an anchor in Brookfield’s AI infrastructure fund.

PLUS: Mubadala isn’t taking its foot off the pedal. CEO Khaldoon Al Mubarak said earlierthis year that the USD 330 bn fund will be deploying more in both AI and robotics themes alongside healthcare, life sciences, and biotech — all sectors analysts think will be positively impacted by AI.

The war hasn’t dampened its ambitions: Just this week, its Abu Dhabi Investment Council unit is working with local banks on a total return swap facility that would build USD 15 bn of exposure to global hedge funds, according ot Bloomberg. Its private equity arm has done 16 deals in the past three months and can commit as much as USD 2 bn to a single transaction, its co-CEOs told the business information service in their first interview since taking charge in 2024. Mubadala also co-led a CAD 130 mn series E for Canadian challenger bank Koho at a CAD 1.33 bn valuation.