MAY 20, 2026 – Open MIC has released a new investor brief examining the governance implications of IPO structures in emerging technology companies, with a focus on the use of multi-class share structures and their impact on accountability.
With its inclusion of a multi-class share structure, the SpaceX IPO is setting the scene for a new generation of transformative technologies to be controlled by a small number of insiders—without any oversight. This structure raises broader concerns about how power is distributed in companies shaping the future of critical industries.
Multi-class shares are not just bad for investors; they are bad for companies and the broader economy. Past experience with social media companies illustrates how shielding founders from investor oversight enables unchecked decision-making that contributes to real-world harms and persistent financial underperformance.
The stakes are even higher when it comes to artificial intelligence. AI is too consequential a technology to be governed by a small number of “founder kings” with no accountability to investors or the public. The time to put guardrails on dominant AI developers is now, while IPO structures and governance terms are still being written and investor leverage is at its peak.
Below is an excerpt from the full report.
The SpaceX IPO is setting the scene for a new generation of transformative technologies to be controlled by a small number of insiders without any oversight.
Elon Musk has been busy in recent weeks wooing prospective investors in an initial public offering (IPO) of shares in SpaceX, the rocket and spacecraft company he founded more than two decades ago. Musk is reportedly aiming to raise $50 billion to $75 billion, with SpaceX valued as high as $1.7 trillion, which would make it one of the most valuable companies to ever reach the stock market.
When details of the SpaceX IPO are published in an upcoming prospectus — reportedly in the next few weeks — they’re expected to also highlight a confounding failure in corporate governance: Despite the historic valuation and extraordinary financial stakes for the company and investors, the only person who would ever be able to fire Elon Musk as CEO of SpaceX will be…Elon Musk.
“SpaceX is telling investors that no one can fire Elon Musk from his role as chief executive and chairman of the board without the billionaire founder's consent.” Reuters has reported. That’s because Musk will control special Class B super-voting shares with ten votes apiece after the IPO, “making his removal effectively a self-vote.” The SpaceX prospectus reportedly warns prospective investors that the corporate structure "will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters and the election of our directors.”
And now, waiting in the wings, with their own plans for enormous IPOs, are the artificial intelligence (AI) companies Open AI and Anthropic, which have signaled the possibility of going public within a year.
The question: Will OpenAI and Anthropic follow the path laid down by SpaceX by opting for corporate governance that serves only a few? Or will they allow for other stakeholders to influence how AI technologies are developed and deployed?
