After years of reluctance, some of the most valuable private companies are about to go public. SpaceX, Anthropic and Co. could trigger the biggest IPO wave in years in 2026.
• The top three IPO candidates could raise more combined than all 2025 U.S. IPOs
• SpaceX is planning an IPO in the second half of 2026 with a potential valuation of $1.5 trillion
• Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini for IPO preparations
SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI: The trillion-dollar candidates
The year 2026 could go down in history as a turning point for the US IPO market. As Gizmodo reported in an analysis from January 2, 2026, three of the most valuable private technology companies, SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI, are preparing for a possible IPO. These three companies alone could go public with valuations of several trillion dollars – more than all of the roughly 200 U.S. IPOs of 2025 brought in combined.
SpaceX is considered the centerpiece of the 2026 IPO narrative. Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the IPO plans in December 2025 on Platform X. The space company is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $1.5 trillion and could raise more than $30 billion. Around 70 percent of revenue now comes from Starlink, the satellite internet service with over 8.5 million users worldwide.
Anthropic, the developer of the AI model Claude, commissioned the law firm Wilson Sonsini to prepare for a possible IPO in December 2025. The company is valued at $300 billion to $350 billion and has positioned its enterprise solutions for regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services and legal services.
Crypto and AI Infrastructure: Kraken and Lambda Labs
In addition to the big names, specialized companies are also preparing to go public. Crypto exchange Kraken confidentially filed an IPO application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 19, 2025, targeting the first quarter of 2026. A day earlier, the company closed an $800 million funding round that valued Kraken at $20 billion – a 33 percent increase in two months. Investors include institutional heavyweights such as Citadel Securities and Jane Street.
In the AI infrastructure space, Lambda Labs is positioning itself as one of the hottest IPO candidates. The GPU cloud provider has hired Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Citigroup for an IPO in the first half of 2026, according to analytics service Sacra. Lambda reached annualized revenue of approximately $500 million in May 2025 and closed a $1.5 billion Series E financing in November 2025. The company also secured a $1.5 billion deal with NVIDIA to lease 18,000 GPUs and a multi-billion dollar agreement with Microsoft to expand its AI infrastructure.
Harvey and Cerebras: whiz kid with a question mark
Two other companies are causing a stir, even if their IPO plans are less concrete. Legal AI startup Harvey closed a $160 million Series F financing led by Andreessen Horowitz in December 2025, valuing the company at $8 billion. As TechCrunch reports, Harvey has gone through three mega-financing rounds within a year and almost tripled its valuation from $3 billion to $8 billion. With over $100 million in annual recurring revenue and 50 of the top 100 U.S. law firms as customers, Harvey is recognized as a leader in legal technology.
AI chip developer Cerebras withdrew its IPO application in October 2025 but plans to resubmit. CEO Andrew Feldman said the company plans to provide updated financials and strategy information. Cerebras was most recently valued at $8.1 billion and is considered one of the few serious challengers to NVIDIA in the AI processor space. According to Kalshi forecast markets, the probability of an IPO announcement before 2027 is 77 percent. Whether all of the companies mentioned will actually go public in 2026 depends on market developments and the regulatory environment. However, if SpaceX, Anthropic or OpenAI make the move, it could mark the beginning of a new era for tech IPOs.
D. Maier / editorial team finanzen.net
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