SpaceX IPO Shows How Investors in Public Companies Are Losing Power

One share, one vote.

It’s a longstanding principle of investing in a publicly traded company that means that the number of shares an investor owns is equal to the number of votes he or she can cast on critical issues like mergers and acquisitions, board appointments and executive pay.

SpaceX’s entry in the stock market is the latest challenge to this principle, swelling the ranks of large and influential public companies that give shareholders little say in how they are run.

This month, SpaceX listed its shares on the Nasdaq with two tiers of stock: A-class shares, which are available to the public and carry one vote at the company’s annual general meeting; and B-class shares, which carry 10 times the voting power and are held by its founder and chief executive, Elon Musk, and a small group of insiders.

The arrangement means that even after Mr. Musk’s company sold more than $85 billion in shares in its record-setting initial public offering, he still maintains control.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/business/spacex-shares-ipo.html