Is the SpaceX IPO a case of regulatory capture?
Consider the timing.
On May 5, 2026, the SEC formally proposed making quarterly reporting optional – the fact that the SEC even proposed it is a direct win for Elon Musk, who has long railed against the 90-day cycle calling it ‘intense and counter-productive’.
This comes just weeks after SpaceX’s confidential (Well, the filing is confidential and yet Bloomberg – and subsequently Reuters – reported it in the standard insider-leak model, citing ‘people familiar with the matter’; but, I digress, that’s a story for a different day 😊) IPO filing and amid rumours of a $2 trillion valuation.
The Make-IPOs-Great-Again agenda led by Chairman Paul Atkins seems perfectly tailored for the SpaceX debut. By proposing companies to shift to semi-annual reporting (Form 10-S), the SEC is removing the exact friction Musk has long cited as a reason to stay private.
The narrative here is reducing short-termism allows companies to focus on multi-year R&D without quarterly stock swings.
If SpaceX does indeed become the first mega-cap to opt for semi-annual reporting, we will enter uncharted territory.
Lower transparency is just one of the things. Potentially higher cost of capital for the firms that opt for this could be another.
And is this – the proposal to make quarterly reporting optional – the only way to end this long IPO winter?
Space X’s last round was series J, reflecting a trend of many more companies staying private for a lot longer now.
So yeah, its indeed time to Make-IPOs-Great-Again and retail investors have for some time now been waiting to get in on some pretty exciting businesses.
But while scrapping quarterly reporting might get some of the world’s largest private firms to float, the trade-off might well be the transparency that has historically defined the U.S. markets.
