Elon Musk is bringing his pioneering business style to the IPO world in ways that no other company has as his rocket and satellite maker SpaceX goes public this week.
Here’s a look at how SpaceX is breaking Wall Street traditions with its record $75 billion listing expected June 12.
‘TAKE-IT-OR-LEAVE-IT’ STOCK PRICING
SpaceX is targeting a roughly $1.8 trillion valuation and the price of $135 per share is not up for discussion. SpaceX set the price before meetings with investors at a roadshow, which Wall Street always uses to test demand and set a price range.
“This is a real break from the normal IPO process, as typically the price range gives investors a starting point and lets the company adjust based on feedback during the roadshow,” said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
“Starting with a set price turns the roadshow from a price-discovery exercise into more of a sales process.”
It’s not clear if Musk will even attend the roadshow in person — he showed up by video at one of the first events, in a last-minute addition to the agenda, Reuters reported.
Of course, the company’s ability to carry out its stock pricing plan depends on demand, and that will be clear when the final IPO price is set on June 11, with trading on Nasdaq starting the next day.
MAKING ROOM FOR MAIN STREET
SpaceX is changing who gets access to shares, as well as pushing investment banks to lower their IPO fees.
Mom-and-pop retail investors without millions to invest usually do not get much opportunity to buy into an IPO, but SpaceX is considering allocating as much as 30% of the offering to individual investors, an unusually large retail tranche aimed at tapping into Musk’s loyal following.
“The retail allocation is so massive that they probably think of the mob of individuals out there clamoring for this as a type of safety net,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
Nasdaq index rules were changed in a way that could allow SpaceX to quickly join the Nasdaq 100, which would require many funds and investors that track the index to buy shares.
However, the high-profile S&P 500 will remain closed to SpaceX in the short term after the index group declined to change rules, such as that a company must be profitable. SpaceX is not.
EARLY EXITS FOR INSIDERS
SpaceX employees will be able to sell some of their shares in stages before the usual six-month restriction period ends, according to a filing, a sign that the rocket maker is not too worried about a rush of insider selling that would pressure the stock.
The listing will be almost entirely new shares, or primary. Both strategies are unusual but not unprecedented. Musk himself will have to keep stock for about a year.
MUSK KEEPS THE KEYS
Musk is selling shares, but he’s not giving up control – not even close to it.
Traditional IPOs can gradually broaden corporate oversight, and while many tech founders wield outsized influence thanks to a special class of super-voting stock, Musk will retain an eye-popping 85.1% of the combined voting power of the company after the IPO, its prospectus shows.
That’s only the start. Musk cannot be fired as CEO (unless he agrees), and SpaceX has added governance provisions that could make it harder for shareholders to challenge company decisions, including minimum ownership thresholds for certain legal actions and restrictions on shareholder proposals.
A BET ON BUSINESSES THAT DO NOT EXIST
Many investors see SpaceX as a bet on Musk, rather than a specific technology, and they are sold on the man: Reuters reported roughly $150 billion worth of demand for the $75 billion raise.
SpaceX itself has not yet proven that its core businesses will exist. It is loss-making, largely because of massive investments in AI computers, and a key part of its plan is to put solar-powered data centers in space. It has created massive financial incentives for Musk to drive colonization of Mars.
Its most profitable unit at the moment is its Starlink satellite internet operation, which is still being built out and testing its market. Moreover, much of SpaceX’s future success depends on a massive rocket that is still in testing — the Starship.
What’s not in question is the poetry of its purpose. As the company says, “Our mission is to build the systems and technologies necessary to make life multiplanetary, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars.”
