SpaceX completed the largest US IPO in history, raising $75 billion at $135 per share. However, retail and institutional investors are operating under starkly different rules.
Brokerages including Fidelity, Robinhood, SoFi, and E*TRADE have imposed strict anti-flipping policies. Fidelity enforces a 15-day holding period, while the others mandate a 30-day hold. SoFi additionally applies escalating fees for violations. Retail investors who sell early risk permanent exclusion from future high-demand allocations, including potential listings from OpenAI and Anthropic. Charles Schwab is the sole major brokerage without a formal lockup.
In contrast, hedge funds and asset managers face no such constraints. They can resell shares at will without risking future access to deals.
On the first day of trading, shares opened at $150 and reached an intraday high near $176.52 before closing at $160.95. Institutional sellers who exited at the peak captured a 31% return in hours. Retail investors, locked in their positions, saw a 19% unrealized gain.
High institutional demand also compressed the retail allocation to roughly 20% of the offering, down from an initially projected 30%.