S&P 500 refuses to bend rules for SpaceX, blocking fast-track for OpenAI and Anthropic

S&P Dow Jones Indices declined on June 4 to waive its standard listing requirements for SpaceX ahead of the company’s planned IPO, killing a path that would have funneled billions in passive investment dollars into Musk’s space and AI venture. The decision also closes off an accelerated route into the S&P 500 for OpenAI and Anthropic once they go public, since any exception carved out for SpaceX would have set a precedent for other unprofitable MegaCap firms.

The index had spent a month consulting on whether to shorten the 12-month seasoning period for new IPOs, drop the rule requiring at least 10 percent of shares to be publicly tradable, and waive profitability requirements. SpaceX needed all three: it plans to float only about 3 percent of its shares and is currently unprofitable, with debt swelling to $29 billion thanks to heavy spending on AI infrastructure.

The ruling matters because index inclusion forces passive funds and retirement accounts to buy in automatically. Keeping SpaceX out shields those holdings from exposure to its speculative bets — including orbital data centers — at a moment when AI firms are already struggling to fund buildouts and pushing costs onto customers through usage-based pricing.