LONDON, April 2, 2026, 14:23 BST
Barclays PLC has joined the syndicate for SpaceX’s upcoming June IPO, bringing the total to 21 banks backing the blockbuster listing that could put a $1.75 trillion price tag on Elon Musk’s company. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan take the helm as active bookrunners, guiding the deal, while Barclays lands a supporting spot, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Barclays wouldn’t comment.
The mandate lands Barclays a spot on one of the year’s biggest U.S. fee generators, a timely win as the British bank pushes harder into the American market to drive up returns. Back on Feb. 10, Barclays pointed out that the U.S. already delivers 50% to 60% of its investment-banking revenue and set its sights on a return on tangible equity above 14% by 2028. That’s alongside plans to hand out more than 15 billion pounds to shareholders between 2026 and 2028. Analysts have linked both targets closely to further U.S. growth.
Timing couldn’t be better. Firms pulled in $211 billion from share sales in Q1, the strongest tally since 2021. IPO proceeds? Up 47%, hitting $44 billion, according to LSEG. “The resilience that we’ve seen in this market, given all of the turbulence that’s out there, is quite remarkable,” said John Kolz, Barclays’ global head of equity capital markets. Still, Deutsche Bank’s Saadi Soudavaar flagged that new listings for the second quarter are riding on volatility easing. Reuters
On March 26, sources told it straight: SpaceX was slicing up the offering by investor category and region, not putting the whole thing out for banks to battle over—a rare play in Wall Street circles. Barclays, as outlined in the plan, would oversee UK distribution, while Musk considered letting retail buyers grab as much as 30% of the float. “This is one of those lifetime moments in which people may say they just have to get in,” Rowan Taylor, managing partner at Liberty Hall Capital Partners, said. Reuters
Barclays picked up the SpaceX mandate following a mixed spell in its investment banking unit. The bank reported a 2% drop in deal fees for the third quarter on Oct. 22, while trading revenue climbed. CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan summed up the stretch, saying it “was dominated by a few large deals that we were not fortunate enough to be on.” Reuters
But things can change quickly. European stocks slid Thursday, with banks off roughly 2% as the chance of a swift resolution to the Iran war diminished. State Street’s Marija Veitmane flagged a shift in mood among investors: “Now we begin to worry about growth outcomes,” she said. Reuters
Barclays isn’t done with domestic expenses either. The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK finalized a 9.1 billion pound tab for the car finance mis-selling fallout on March 30, and Barclays is among the banks affected. Last October, Barclays bumped its motor-finance provision by another 235 million pounds, lifting its total reserve for the matter to 325 million pounds.
Barclays covers the waterfront, from UK retail and corporate banking to wealth management, investment banking, and even a consumer operation in the U.S. So when the bank lands a major U.S. mandate, it’s not just about a single payday—it’s a proving ground. These high-profile deals are signals that Barclays can secure the mandates it needs to back up its strategy for boosting returns.
