Anders Schelde, Chief Investment Officer of AkademikerPension, a Danish pensions fund for academics and professionals with approximately $25 billion in assets under management, announced on May 29 that the fund has officially placed SpaceX on its investment blacklist, saying it will not participate in its IPO nor purchase any SpaceX shares or notes on the secondary market. In a statement, Schelde described SpaceX’s target valuation as “severely overvalued” and even “pure fantasy,” while calling its governance structure “catastrophic”—according to Bloomberg Industry Research’s analysis of the S-1 filing, Elon Musk will hold roughly 80% of voting power while simultaneously serving as CEO, CTO, and Board Chairman, constituting “near-absolute control.” Schelde said that even if the valuation were reasonable, the fund would still refuse to invest due to governance concerns, noting that investors are being asked to hold a “highly uncertain” company at “unprecedentedly low risk premiums.” AkademikerPension earlier this year sold its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds, citing the Trump administration’s threat to annex Greenland, and had previously liquidated its Tesla position. This statement continues the fund’s consistent style of using its portfolio to express governance and political stances.
AkademikerPension’s standalone refusal to participate in an IPO of this scale—around $75 billion—will have a limited impact, but Schelde noted that the fund’s concerns align with those of several U.S. pension funds. New York City Comptroller, the CEO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), and the New York State Comptroller co-signed a letter to Musk on May 14 expressing “serious concern” over SpaceX’s “extreme governance structure.” SpaceX’s roadshow is expected to begin as early as June 4. The IPO will unusually allocate 30% of the quota to retail investors. Analysts believe retail demand will compensate for some of the institutional shortfall, but the structural avoidance by governance-sensitive institutions may exert pressure on SpaceX’s long-term valuation after listing.