Extended version: Why Elizabeth Warren is worried about SpaceX
6/17/202611 min
In our extended interview, US Senator Elizabeth Warren discusses SpaceX’s initial public offering and what she sees as its potential risk to investors.
Mentioned in this podcast:
SpaceX leapfrogs Amazon to become world’s fifth-most valuable company
https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/warren-calls-on-sec-to-delay-spacex-ipo
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The FT News Briefing is produced by Victoria Craig, Sonja Hutson, Saffeya Ahmed, Katya Kumkova, and Fiona Symon. Our editor is Marc Filippino. Our show is mixed by Kelly Garry and Alex Higgins. Additional help from Gavin Kallmann, Michael Lello, Peter Barber and David da Silva. Our intern is Cole van Miltenburg. Our executive producer is Topher Forhecz. Flo Phillips is the FT’s global head of audio. The show’s theme music is by Metaphor Music.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsMarc Filippino· Host0:00
[digital music] Last week, SpaceX initial public offering was the largest in history, and on the morning we're recording this, Tuesday, it briefly passed Microsoft as the fourth largest company by market capitalization. All the while, Elon Musk, the owner of SpaceX, has become the world's first trillionaire thanks to his shares in the AI to rockets business. But for some, the SpaceX listing and its blockbuster valuation is a reason to worry, not celebrate. In the run-up to the IPO, U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote to the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission asking the regulator to delay the listing. Warren is a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. She joins me now to talk about why she opposed the SpaceX IPO and what it tells us about the American economy. Senator Warren, welcome.
Elizabeth Warren· Guest0:43
Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
Marc Filippino· Host0:45
So let's start with the most recent update. SpaceX has shot up in value by more than a trillion dollars within just several days of going public. That's from an initial valuation that was already the highest in history. What are your thoughts as you're watching this?
Elizabeth Warren· Guest0:58
Look, I want Americans to have opportunities to invest in companies that help our economy grow, but the confidence of investors is a big reason why our markets are the envy of the world, and this particular IPO has enough red flags [laughs] on it that it should stop anyone in just thinking about it. So look at it this way. First of all, the valuations. Elon