Two of the largest public pension funds in the US — New York State Common Retirement Fund and CalPERS — are calling out SpaceX's control structure as "extreme." The complaint: Elon Musk reportedly wants supervoting shares that would lock in his control even as outside investors pour billions into the company at sky-high valuations.
This matters because SpaceX is still private, but it's huge. Pension funds invest indirectly through secondary deals and funds, which means teachers and firefighters in NY and CA are partial owners. They're saying: if we're paying up, we want at least basic accountability. Right now they get neither voting power nor real disclosures.
The broader pattern is familiar. Founders from Zuckerberg to Page to Musk have normalized dual-class structures, and late-stage private companies have pushed it further by skipping public markets entirely. Investors get the upside narrative; governance gets quietly deleted from the term sheet.
My take: pension funds finally pushing back is overdue, but SpaceX has no real pressure to listen as long as money keeps flowing in. The fix isn't a strongly-worded letter — it's writing "no supervoting, or no check" into the actual investment terms. source
