SpaceX Prepares for What Would Be History’s Largest IPO, Expected to Value Company Above $2 Trillion

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday urging it to scrutinize SpaceX’s IPO preparations. 8 million members whose pension funds are likely to hold SpaceX shares within days of the IPO under newly enacted stock exchange rules. Weingarten shared the letter with WIRED.

“I have significant concerns about the degree to which this extremely large offering will comply with the securities laws’ requirements concerning full disclosure of material information and fair treatment of investors,” Weingarten stated in the letter.

She urged SEC chair Paul Atkins to direct his teams to closely check SpaceX’s IPO filings. Weingarten cited concerns about SpaceX’s business plans potentially relying on “nonexistent or speculative technologies,” the reported thoroughness of its accounting, and the adequacy of its board of directors.

“The commission must demand ironclad disclosures, independent oversight and safeguards against forced investment—or risk consigning workers’ life savings to the whims of a company that operates more like a Musk family venture than a transparent, publicly traded enterprise,” Weingarten said in a statement.

SpaceX’s IPO is expected to be the largest ever and raise tens of billions of dollars. If the IPO occurs as planned in June, the company that owns a rocket manufacturer, a social media app, and an AI chatbot developer will rank among the world’s top 10 largest publicly-traded companies.

SpaceX’s IPO is expected to value the company above $2 trillion. Last year, Weingarten urged state and local officials and six big investment funds to review their holdings of Tesla shares. Wired reported that activists and pension funds are asking challenging questions about the offering for many of the same reasons they targeted Tesla last year.

AkademikerPension, a retirement plan for teachers and other government workers in Denmark, has been divested from Tesla since last year over concerns about a lack of independence on the automaker’s board and Musk’s involvement in politics. ” Wejse added that the fund plans to scrutinize the company's financials and shareholder structure as more details emerge.

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania’s retirement board paused new investments in Tesla last year.

Mark Pinsley, county controller of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, said the board hasn’t discussed a potential SpaceX investment yet. Pinsley said he is concerned SpaceX will automatically become part of the county’s portfolio through index funds. “SpaceX is going to be supported by pension funds not because it has good fundamentals but because it lands in an indexable range,” Pinsley said.

Environmental activists demonstrated outside of meetings with investors that SpaceX held in Tennessee and Texas last month. SpaceX has a key data center in Tennessee, while Texas is home to SpaceX headquarters. Tesla Takedown helped promote the protests.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. Wired reported that the same advocacy groups that helped erase $600 billion from Tesla’s market cap early last year are now turning their attention to SpaceX’s public market debut.