About Robert Greifeld
Robert Greifeld, former Nasdaq chairman and CEO, appeared on CNBC in May and June 2026 to discuss the SpaceX IPO and broader market conditions. He described the SpaceX IPO as "the largest IPO ever" and said Nasdaq was "uniquely able to handle an IPO this size." Greifeld stated that the IPO window is open, citing SpaceX as an example, and said he would "definitely bet" that Anthropic and OpenAI would also list on Nasdaq. He characterized SpaceX stock as trading "not on fundamentals" but "on the aspiration of what's possible with the human spirit."
Greifeld also addressed index inclusion rules for large IPOs. He said that if he were in charge in 2006 and a company with a $75 billion raise, 24 years of operation, and over 10,000 investors sought index inclusion, "we'd be wrong not to get this company in the index." He argued that the scale of such companies provides "adequate float" to support public markets. Regarding price discovery, Greifeld said that index inclusion would have a "marginal" impact on price and that the "beauty of the public market is all buyers and sellers come together to discover price." He suggested that the quality of the market could be judged by spread and liquidity, and that retail investors would be "better served" by the increased information available in public markets.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Robert Greifeld's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Host0:02
IPO that raised 75 billion. And that was the scene at the Nasdaq late this morning as SpaceX made history, becoming the biggest IPO ever. Joining me now is CNBC contributor, former Nasdaq Chairman and CEO Robert Greifeld. Bob, thanks for being here.
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Robert Greifeld0:18
Glad to be here today. What a great day.
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Host0:20
All right. So you're saying it's a great day. Huge day for the markets in general. Biggest IPO ever. I want to ask you, is it a big day specifically for the Nasdaq, the idea that the IPO happened there?
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Robert Greifeld0:32
Definitely it is. And congratulations to Adena Nelson, Brad, Jeremy and the whole team. The largest IPO ever. And when you think about this in a global context, I think Nasdaq uniquely was able to handle an IPO this size. And what a great day.
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Host0:46
All right. Nice of you to shout out your former colleagues over there. What does this mean more broadly when it comes to things like the triple Qs? Do you think this increases volume, interest, investment into products like that because SpaceX is at the Nasdaq?
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Robert Greifeld1:00
I think it does. But the first point I would make is I remember back in 2003 when I joined Nasdaq, we had literally zero IPOs that year. And Google came public in 2004. And that opened the window. So I think we're in a point in time where the window is open. And we thank SpaceX for that. With respect to the Qs, they'll have a relatively large weighting in it. I think that will be helpful in driving demand for the Qs. But the Qs itself is such a large product that represents such a multidimensional part of the industry. So SpaceX is important, but obviously it was very successful with or without SpaceX.
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Host1:39
Yeah. It's also important to note that the market itself is just bigger than it has been in previous years. So as big as this IPO is, the market itself is a lot bigger. I want to go to the idea here of the other IPOs that are coming up. You mentioned the window is open. I think you're kind of alluding to Anthropic and OpenAI, possibly also listing on the Nasdaq. Now, what would it mean in the same year for the Nasdaq to get all three?
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Robert Greifeld2:01
I'd be absolutely wonderful. And I would definitely bet that they will. And I think when you think about SpaceX, this represents a stock that's trading not on fundamentals because clearly at, call it 100 times revenue, that doesn't quite compute. It's trading on the aspiration of what's possible with the human spirit going forward in time. So you have to have a long-term view of what this company is capable of to buy it today. So in many ways, you can say that this was the most difficult sell for the market because Anthropic and OpenAI have a more clear and present business model. So I think the window is open, SpaceX opened it, and you'll see other companies certainly coming through.
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Host2:43
You know, Bob, before we let you go, one thing very important to note right now, we're looking at SpaceX. It's up just under 18%. At the start of the hour, it was up about 25% or so. Not uncommon to see a stock change direction a bit in the last hour of trading. But what do you make of this move?
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Robert Greifeld2:59
Well, I think you're going to see price discovery happen day by day with this stock. It's such a large offering. There's so much information to digest with it. And I think if you get hung up on the minute or the hour or the day, you're not looking at it the right way. This is a stock you buy, not on fundamentals, but on the imagination. What Elon and the human spirit can achieve over a long period of time. To me, he's changed in many ways the zeitgeist of the moment in that I'm involved with conversations now about data centers and space that didn't exist before he filed to go public. And also, the fun part is, do you want to move on Mars? Right? You want to have a million people in a permanent colony on Mars. I was joking with Carl that he should move there, and maybe Frank, you and Carl could go there together. I personally like living here on Earth, so I have no interest in that. But he's changed the whole spirit of the discussion there. He's smiling. Frank's thinking about he might move to Mars. So, I mean, it's really, I think, you know, when you see the markets being criticized for short-term thinking, SpaceX...
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Host3:59
SpaceX is a long-term play.
