Every few years, a company goes public with so much money on the table that the whole market stops to watch. In June it was SpaceX. This week, it is the AI company behind the Claude chatbot.
The Anthropic IPO is the money story everyone is searching right now. Reports this week say Anthropic plans to sell 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT, which could raise up to about $64.4 billion. So how big is that, really? Below are the top 10 biggest tech IPOs ever, with the numbers, the stories behind them, and where Anthropic would slot in.
Quick Answer: The Top 10 at a Glance
- SpaceX (2026): about $75 billion, the largest IPO of any kind in history.
- Alibaba (2014): about $21.8 billion, the record for a tech IPO for over a decade.
- SoftBank Corp (2018): about $21.3 billion, Japan’s mobile giant.
- NTT DoCoMo (1998): about $18.4 billion, the mobile boom’s first mega deal.
- Visa (2008): about $17.9 billion, priced in the middle of a financial crisis.
- Facebook (2012): about $16 billion, the famous Nasdaq debut.
- NTT (1987): about $15.2 billion, the privatisation that sparked a share craze in Japan.
- Deutsche Telekom (1996): about $13 billion, Germany’s “people’s share”.
- AT&T Wireless (2000): about $10.6 billion, right at the peak of the dot-com era.
- Uber (2019): about $8.1 billion, the biggest app-economy listing of its time.
If Anthropic prices at the top of its range, its IPO alone (about $64.4 billion) would rank second on this list, behind only SpaceX.
Biggest Tech IPOs Compared
| Company | Year | Exchange | Amount raised (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpaceX | 2026 | Nasdaq | $75.0 billion |
| Anthropic (planned) | 2026 | Nasdaq | Up to ~$64.4 billion |
| Alibaba | 2014 | NYSE | $21.8 billion |
| SoftBank Corp | 2018 | Tokyo | $21.3 billion |
| NTT DoCoMo | 1998 | Tokyo | $18.4 billion |
| Visa | 2008 | NYSE | $17.9 billion |
| Facebook (Meta) | 2012 | Nasdaq | $16.0 billion |
| NTT | 1987 | Tokyo | $15.2 billion |
| Deutsche Telekom | 1996 | Frankfurt / NYSE | $13.0 billion |
| AT&T Wireless | 2000 | NYSE | $10.6 billion |
| Uber | 2019 | NYSE | $8.1 billion |
1. SpaceX (2026): The New All-Time Record
Elon Musk’s rocket company rewrote the record book in June 2026. SpaceX priced about 555.6 million shares at $135 each, raising roughly $75 billion, and listed on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX.
That was nearly three times the old record set by Saudi Aramco in 2019. Once the underwriters used their option to buy extra shares, total proceeds climbed to around $86 billion. The stock closed its first day up about 19% at $160.95, putting SpaceX’s market value near $2.1 trillion.
Why it’s here: it is the benchmark every big listing is now measured against, including the Anthropic IPO. Reports say Anthropic’s combined fundraise (IPO plus a separate private placement) could come close to SpaceX’s total.
2. Alibaba (2014): The Tech Record That Lasted 12 Years
Jack Ma’s e-commerce group listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014 under the ticker BABA. It raised about $21.8 billion at pricing, the biggest IPO ever on a US exchange until SpaceX came along.
Alibaba chose New York over Hong Kong, partly because of rules about its partnership structure. That decision showed how far a Chinese internet company could go with global investors, and it set the tone for a wave of Chinese tech listings that followed.
- Good to know: the deal grew even larger once the over-allotment option was used, which is why you will see figures near $25 billion in some reports.
3. SoftBank Corp (2018): Japan’s Mobile Giant
This was the Japanese telecom arm of Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group, not the investing parent. It listed in Tokyo in December 2018 and raised about $21.3 billion, one of the largest deals Japan has ever seen.
Size did not guarantee a happy start. The shares fell around 15% on the first day, a reminder that a huge IPO and a strong debut are two very different things. Millions of Japanese retail investors had bought in, so the slide made headlines.
Why it’s here: it shows how telecom, not just internet firms, has driven many of the biggest tech listings.
4. NTT DoCoMo (1998): The Mobile Boom’s First Mega Deal
Long before smartphones, Japan was already crazy about mobile phones. NTT DoCoMo, the mobile unit of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, listed in Tokyo in October 1998 and raised about $18.4 billion (some sources say $18.1 billion).
DoCoMo went on to launch i-mode, one of the world’s first popular mobile internet services. Its parent NTT later bought out the minority shareholders and took DoCoMo private again in 2020.
Who should care: anyone who thinks “tech IPO” only means Silicon Valley. Asia has hosted several of the largest deals ever.
5. Visa (2008): A Record Raise in a Crisis Year
Visa went public on the NYSE in March 2008, just as the global financial crisis was building. It still raised about $17.9 billion, at the time the largest IPO in US history.
Some analysts file Visa under financials, but its business runs on one of the world’s largest payment networks, which is why it often appears on lists of the biggest tech IPOs. If you have tapped a card at a kirana store or petrol pump, you have used the kind of network Visa runs.
Good to know: its split-adjusted offer price works out to about $11 a share, and Visa has been one of the best long-term performers among mega IPOs.
6. Facebook (2012): The Most Talked-About Debut
Facebook, now Meta Platforms, listed on Nasdaq in May 2012 at $38 a share and raised about $16 billion. It was then the biggest tech IPO in American history.
The first day was messy. Technical glitches at Nasdaq delayed trading and confused orders, and the stock spent months below its IPO price. Many people wrote it off as a flop.
They were wrong over the long run. Meta grew into one of the world’s most valuable companies on the back of mobile ads, Instagram and WhatsApp, the app most Indian families now use every day.
Lesson: a rough listing day says little about where a company will be ten years later.
7. NTT (1987): The Privatisation That Started a Craze
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone was Japan’s state phone company. Its share sale in Tokyo in 1987 raised about $15.2 billion, a staggering amount at the time.
The offer pulled ordinary Japanese households into the stock market in huge numbers, much like how large Indian IPOs today draw lakhs of first-time demat account holders. It came during Japan’s bubble years, so it is also studied as a lesson in market euphoria.
Why it’s here: nearly four decades later, it still sits in the global top 15 by money raised.
8. Deutsche Telekom (1996): Germany’s “People’s Share”
Germany’s state telecom operator listed in Frankfurt and New York in November 1996, raising about $13 billion. The government marketed it heavily to ordinary citizens as a “people’s share” (Volksaktie).
Millions of Germans bought shares for the first time. The stock soared during the dot-com boom and then crashed when the bubble burst, which left many small investors with painful losses.
Who should care: anyone tempted to buy into a hyped listing only because “everyone is buying it”.
9. AT&T Wireless (2000): Peak Dot-Com Timing
AT&T carved out its mobile business as a tracking stock and listed it on the NYSE in April 2000. It raised about $10.6 billion, then the largest IPO in US history.
The timing was almost exactly at the top of the dot-com market. The business later merged with Cingular in 2004, a deal that went on to become part of today’s AT&T.
Why it’s here: it marks the end of the 1990s telecom IPO wave and shows how market mood can shape a deal’s size.
10. Uber (2019): The App Economy’s Big Moment
The ride-hailing company listed on the NYSE in May 2019 at $45 a share and raised about $8.1 billion. It was the largest US IPO since Alibaba at the time.
Uber’s shares slipped on day one, and it took years for the company to post steady profits. Still, the listing marked a turning point for loss-making, venture-backed startups seeking public money, the same path many Indian new-age tech companies later followed.
Good to know: Uber operates widely in Indian cities, so it is one of the few names on this list most Indian readers use directly.
Anthropic IPO: Where Would It Rank?
Anthropic, the San Francisco company that makes the Claude AI models (we covered its latest model in our top 5 things to know about Claude Fable 5.2), filed its IPO paperwork with the US SEC in late October 2026. On November 10, reports from Bloomberg, AP and Reuters said it plans to sell 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each.
- IPO size: up to about $64.4 billion at the top of the range.
- Extra shares: underwriters have an option on about 123.75 million more shares, worth nearly $10 billion.
- Separate placement: about $26 billion from Google, Nvidia and other tech firms, contingent on the IPO, for up to roughly $90 billion in total.
- Valuation: reports differ, from about $1.02 trillion to around $1.4 trillion.
- Listing: Nasdaq, ticker ANT.
On the IPO number alone, Anthropic would sit clearly at number two, about three times Alibaba’s raise. Count the private placement too, and the total money raised could rival SpaceX. Nothing is final until the shares are priced, so these figures may change.
How We Picked This List
We ranked technology, internet, telecom and payments companies by gross money raised at IPO pricing, before any over-allotment option. That is the standard way to compare deal sizes across decades.
We cross-checked figures from published IPO rankings (Dealroom, The Motley Fool) and news reports from Bloomberg, AP and Reuters. Where sources disagreed slightly, we used the pricing-stage number and noted the difference. Energy, banking and utility giants such as Saudi Aramco, ICBC and Enel were left out because they are not tech companies. These are records of size, not judgements on which stock was a good buy.
Myths About Mega IPOs (and Honourable Mentions)
- Myth: bigger IPO means bigger gains. SoftBank Corp and Facebook both fell after listing. Size tells you about demand from big funds, not future returns.
- Myth: amount raised equals company value. Money raised is only the slice of shares sold. SpaceX raised $75 billion but was valued near $2.1 trillion after day one.
- Myth: Indian investors can simply apply. US IPOs are mainly allotted to institutions and US brokerage clients. Indians can usually only buy after listing through the RBI’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) and an overseas-investing platform, with TCS and tax rules applying.
- Honourable mention: Rivian (2021). The US electric-vehicle maker raised about $11.9 billion on Nasdaq. It is usually classed as auto rather than tech, but it shows how big the EV story got. Closer to home, see our list of the best-selling electric scooter brands in India.
- Want the Indian side? Our list of the biggest IPOs in India of all time covers the Dalal Street record holders.
Our Take
SpaceX is the clear number one, and it may stay there for a while. But the real story of 2026 is that two of the three largest deals ever are happening in the same year, and one of them is an AI company. Alibaba’s long-standing tech record has been beaten twice in a few months.
Best overall pick for “most important” on this list? SpaceX for sheer size, but Facebook for the lesson: the debut day matters far less than what the company builds next. Keep that in mind as the Anthropic IPO headlines roll in.
FAQs
What is the biggest IPO ever?
SpaceX’s June 2026 Nasdaq listing, which raised about $75 billion at pricing and around $86 billion after the over-allotment option. It beat Saudi Aramco’s 2019 record of about $25.6 billion.
How much will the Anthropic IPO raise?
Reports say up to about $64.4 billion from 825 million shares at $70 to $78 each, plus a separate $26 billion placement tied to the IPO. Final numbers depend on pricing.
What is the Anthropic stock ticker?
Anthropic has applied to list on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker ANT.
Can Indians invest in the Anthropic IPO?
Direct IPO allotment is usually limited to US investors and institutions. Indian residents can generally buy US-listed shares after listing through the RBI’s LRS route via an overseas-investing platform, subject to tax and TCS rules.
What was the biggest tech IPO before SpaceX?
Alibaba’s September 2014 NYSE listing, which raised about $21.8 billion at pricing and held the tech record for nearly 12 years.
More Top Lists You’ll Like
- Top 10 Biggest IPOs in India of All Time (2026 List): see how Dalal Street’s records compare with these global giants.
- Top 5 Things to Know About Claude Fable 5.2 (Nov 2026): the AI model behind the company now going public.
- Top 10 Free AI Tools for Students in India (2026): the practical side of the AI boom, at zero cost.
Figures are approximate gross IPO proceeds at pricing in US dollars, as reported up to November 2026; Anthropic’s terms are reported and not yet final. Sources include SEC EDGAR filings and the Reserve Bank of India for LRS rules. This is general information, not financial or investment advice.
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