Danish Pension Fund Blacklists SpaceX IPO Over Governance Concerns

The Danish pension fund AkademikerPension, which manages approximately $25 billion, has placed Space Exploration Technologies Corp. on its portfolio exclusion list. The fund's chief investment officer, Anders Schelde, described the company's governance structure as catastrophic and its market valuation as grossly inflated.

AkademikerPension argues that while market indications suggest a value of at least $1.8 trillion, any valuation exceeding $1 trillion is difficult to justify. The fund specifically criticized the concentration of power held by Elon Musk, who is expected to control over 80% of voting rights while simultaneously serving as CEO, CTO, and board chair, effectively preventing meaningful oversight.

These concerns are echoed by a coalition of U.S. institutional investors. New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, and CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost sent a joint letter to SpaceX executives warning that the proposed structure lacks checks and balances and undermines investor rights.

SpaceX officially filed for its initial public offering on May 20 and plans to begin formal marketing next month. The offering is being led by a syndicate of banks including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.