Mirae Asset Securities receives no SpaceX IPO shares despite being listed as underwriter

By Jung Yoon-hee, The Herald Business

SpaceX, Elon Musk's aerospace company, made a splashy debut on the Nasdaq on Friday, but South Korean retail investors who had subscribed through Mirae Asset Securities were left empty-handed after the firm received none of the IPO shares it had been allocated.

Mirae Asset Securities participated as a global co-underwriter in the SpaceX IPO but was not assigned any shares in the final allocation, according to the financial investment industry on Saturday.

SpaceX had originally planned to allocate 2,314,815 Class A common shares to Mirae Asset Securities out of the 555,555,555 shares offered.

Lead underwriter Goldman Sachs did not assign any sellable shares to co-underwriters, including Mirae Asset Securities, during the final allocation process. The reallocation was attributed to a surge in demand — primarily from institutional investors — immediately after the Nasdaq listing.

Mirae Asset Securities noted that underwriting quantities listed in SEC filings — including the S-1 and the prospectus — reflect each underwriter's commitment ratio, which is distinct from the final sellable allocation distributed to investors.

In a public notice, Mirae Asset Securities said it was "deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers who waited for the results of this IPO subscription," adding that all subscription deposits had been fully refunded in the early hours of Saturday Korean Standard Time.

The firm explained that the IPO "proceeds through the underwriters' acceptance of shares, satisfaction of all conditions, and the lead underwriter's final allocation process, as stated in the prospectus," and that "the actual sellable volume allocated to each underwriter is determined at the sole discretion of the lead underwriter."

Mirae Asset Securities added that it had disclosed in advance — through the prospectus and key information document — that there was a possibility of receiving no allocation.

Mirae Asset Securities conducted the SpaceX IPO subscription in two rounds, with a total target amount of $500 million. The offering sold out within one to two minutes of going on sale, drawing strong investor interest.

The firm said it would "continue to do its best to protect investors and provide stable service."

SpaceX closed its first day of trading on the Nasdaq on Friday at $161.11, up 19.34 percent from its IPO price, capping a successful debut. During trading, the stock climbed as high as $176.52.

Based on Friday's closing price, SpaceX's market capitalization surpassed $2 trillion, placing it sixth among the world's most valuable companies — behind Nvidia, Alphabet (Google's parent), Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Musk, SpaceX's largest shareholder, also became the world's first "trillionaire," with personal assets exceeding $1 trillion.

SpaceX raised $75 billion through the IPO — the largest amount ever raised in a public offering. Total orders reached $350 billion, with institutional investors accounting for $250 billion and retail investors for $100 billion.