SpaceX begins trading in record $75B IPO barring Chinese investors

SpaceX and OpenAI Bar Chinese Investors From IPOs as Tech Decoupling Deepens

SpaceX begins trading on the Nasdaq today under the ticker SPCX in what is the largest initial public offering in history — and investors from China and Hong Kong have been shut out entirely. OpenAI, which confidentially filed for its own IPO earlier this month, is expected to impose the same restriction when it goes public later this year, according to a report from South Korea’s Chosun Biz, which cited sources saying OpenAI had already barred Chinese investors from participating in its private fundraising rounds.asiae

A Record IPO With a Notable Exclusion

SpaceX’s IPO is raising approximately $75 billion through the sale of 555 million shares at $135 each, valuing Elon Musk’s aerospace and AI company at roughly $1.77 trillion. The offering dwarfs the previous record set by Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion listing in 2019.latimes

Bloomberg first reported on June 5 that SpaceX’s underwriters had been instructed not to accept orders from investors in China and Hong Kong. A memo sent by Citigroup, one of the banks arranging the deal, confirmed that banks in the underwriting syndicate were told to refuse orders from customers in those regions, including private banking clients. Reuters confirmed that SpaceX’s website and IPO marketing documents were inaccessible in mainland China and Hong Kong, returning an “Error 1009” message indicating geographic access restrictions.reuters

ITAR and the Question of Voluntary Action

The restriction was linked to the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), under which China and Hong Kong are subject to distribution limitations for defense-related technology. SpaceX, as a major contractor for NASA and the U.S. military, handles sensitive technologies governed by these export controls.businesstimes

However, while individuals from ITAR-restricted jurisdictions are not legally barred from subscribing to IPOs, SpaceX chose to instruct banks not to allocate shares to them, according to Bloomberg’s reporting. Francis Fong, honorary president of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation, told Reuters that such restrictions are “generally a corporate decision”. France 24 reported that SpaceX defended its decision by citing national security reasons.reuters

OpenAI Follows Suit

OpenAI confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC on June 8, setting up a potential offering in the fourth quarter of 2026 at a valuation that could exceed $1 trillion. The ChatGPT maker has already excluded Chinese investors from private funding rounds, and sources familiar with the matter say the same restriction will apply to its public offering.cnbc

The moves mark an escalation in the separation of U.S. and Chinese technology capital markets. Chinese investors have responded by seeking indirect exposure through proxy stocks and supply-chain speculation, according to the South China Morning Post, while the Financial Times reported that some are turning to digital assets to simulate investments in the offerings.scmp