Although SpaceX is not about to rule over foreign subjects, as the chartered companies founded in the early modern era did, it, too, is operating beyond the reach of any sovereign. And like its predecessors, it has already accumulated immense powers that governments will struggle to reclaim.
CAMBRIDGE—When SpaceX lists a fraction of its shares on the Nasdaq later this week, at an anticipated valuation around $1.75 trillion, it will be the largest initial public offering in history. Investors are being asked to price a company that builds rockets, runs the world’s dominant satellite-internet network, and increasingly underwrites the military communications of the US and its allies (though these successful businesses must be weighed against the cash-burning AI venture that Elon Musk has bundled into the same corporate structure).