The SpaceX IPO is the most brazen retail fleecing in modern market history.
NASDAQ has REWRITTEN the index rules specifically for this listing. The 10% minimum free float requirement: gone. The 3 to 12 month seasoning period before index inclusion: cut to 15 trading days. Companies with small floats can now be weighted at 3x their actual float.
Translation: every passive index fund, every 401k, every pension is about to be force-fed SPCX whether they want it or not.
And what exactly are they buying?
Class A shares carrying ONE vote each, while Musk holds 93.6% of the Class B super voting shares at TEN votes each. That gives him 85.1% of voting power on a 42% economic interest. He cannot be outvoted. He cannot be removed. CEO, CTO and board chairman simultaneously.
For reference: Zuckerberg controls 61% of Meta. Buffett 35% of Berkshire. Musk: 85.1%.
SpaceX is also claiming "controlled company" status, exempting it from needing a majority of independent directors. Shareholders waive the right to a jury trial. They waive the right to class actions. Mandatory arbitration only, courtesy of an SEC rule change pushed through on a party line vote last September.
$1.75 trillion valuation. $80 billion raise. Largest IPO in history.
The rules of the game were quietly rewritten so one man could extract maximum capital from retail while answering to no one.
@gnoble79 Maybe the problem is passive investing with complete disregard for valuation. Perhaps we need a better index mythology than just Looking at market caps.
The reason they gave an incentive to Musk for colonizing Mars is because they can't do an IPO while straight up lying about having a plan to colonize Mars.
They can put whatever they want in his pay package though and then "leak it".
@librab103@yoloption Don't pay suppliers, reduce prepaid expenses, and increase accrued liabilities. $3.6B right there. Just gotta do that every quarter forever.