Senator Elizabeth Warren has formally requested the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to delay the initial public offering (IPO) of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq as early as June 12 under the ticker SPCX. The letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins was sent on June 10, just two days before the expected listing.
SpaceX’s IPO could value the company at up to $2 trillion and aims to raise approximately $75 billion by selling 555 million Class A shares priced at $135 each. This would make it the largest IPO in U.S. history. However, Warren argues the structure poses significant risks to ordinary investors, citing Elon Musk’s voting control through dual-class shares, mandatory arbitration clauses, and limits on shareholder proposals that would leave public investors with very limited rights.
The senator also questioned the valuation, calling the $2 trillion target “nonsensical” and “smoke-and-mirrors accounting,” especially given SpaceX’s annual revenue of around $19 billion. She highlighted that a price-to-sales ratio of about 103 is roughly 40% higher than Palantir’s, the most expensive stock in the S&P 500. Additionally, recent rule changes could force major indexes to add SpaceX quickly, potentially spreading overvaluation risks to millions of retirement accounts.
Despite the political pressure, investor demand for the IPO has already exceeded $250 billion, more than three times the planned raise. Regulatory experts note that the SEC would need to identify specific disclosure failures or legal violations to justify a delay, and an aggressive valuation alone is unlikely to halt the process. Warren has asked the SEC to respond by June 23.
The clash is part of a broader pattern between Warren and Musk, who have previously sparred over his stock sales, Twitter acquisition, and work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The SpaceX IPO is still on track to proceed as planned, with order books expected to close on Wednesday.
