finance
About 30 Protesters and 3 Counter-Protesters Gather Outside JPMorgan During SpaceX IPO Celebration
Stop Funding Billionaires organized the demonstration to urge pension funds and unions not to invest in SpaceX. Three counterprotesters toasted the crowd with fake champagne.
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About 30 protesters gathered outside JPMorgan's headquarters on Park Avenue on the day SpaceX began trading on public markets. They chanted "No billionaires, no trillionaires" and held a banner that read "Stop Elon. " Organizer Jonathan Westin told the group that Elon Musk had become the world's first trillionaire.
The demonstration lasted about 30 minutes in 90-degree weather. Building security directed workers to use a different entrance during the protest. Stop Funding Billionaires sent a letter on Thursday to more than a dozen organizations in New York, including the comptrollers of New York City and New York state, asking them not to invest in SpaceX.
The coalition includes New York Communities for Change. "We're out here to ring the alarm that we shouldn't be putting workers' retirement funds at risk over what, we feel is a cash grab by Elon Musk," Westin said. " Natalie Renta, associate director of corporate governance and power at the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, said SpaceX's lack of profit, Elon Musk's total control over the company, and lack of accountability to shareholders are concerns.
"Elon Musk is really pushing the boundaries of how much control one person could have over a public company," Renta said. Three counterprotesters identified as Belle D'Ball, Angus Beefsteak the Third, and William Bentley Everrich toasted the crowd with fake champagne. " JPMorgan hosted a planned party at its headquarters celebrating the SpaceX IPO.
JPMorgan declined to comment on the protests.
