SpaceX plans to consolidate founder Elon Musk’s control after its IPO, granting him and a small group of insiders super-voting shares that will outperform other investors, according to analysis by Reuters.
The prospectus, which was filed confidentially this month, provides new details about the company’s finances and corporate governance.
Following the completion of the stock offering, Musk will remain the chief executive, chief technical officer and serve as chairman of SpaceX’s nine-member board of directors.
Continues after advertising
Although Musk received $54,080 last year, according to the excerpts, he stands to earn billions in shares after the company’s stock market debut.
SpaceX is targeting a listing valuation of around $1.75 trillion with a raise of $75 billion, which would make it the largest initial public offering in history.
Musk bought $1.4 billion worth of shares in the company last year and could get another 60 million shares if SpaceX’s market value reaches $6.6 trillion and if he manages to build data centers in space under a stock plan approved last month, the Information reported.
President and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell received $85.8 million in total compensation last year, Reuters previously reported, while chief financial officer Bret Johnsen received $9.8 million.
Some of the executives are boosting Musk’s IPO ambitions with three days of meetings planned this week for Wall Street analysts, starting with a tour and briefings at SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Excerpts from the filing show that SpaceX will use a dual-class share structure that gives Class B shareholders 10 votes each, concentrating power with Musk and a handful of other insiders, while Class A shares sold to public investors will have one vote each.
Continues after advertising
They also outline provisions that may limit shareholders’ ability to influence board elections or pursue certain legal claims, forcing disputes into arbitration and restricting where they can be brought.
While these structures are common among founder-led technology companies, they limit the ability of public shareholders to influence strategy or challenge management.
