SpaceX and Anthropic are planning IPOs in 2026. Both companies have huge potential. SpaceX is valued over $1 trillion dollars and Anthropic is worth over $300 billion dollars.
Each company has a very different business. SpaceX focuses on rocket propulsion, human spaceflight, and satellite constellation technology. Anthropic developed the remarkable AI chatbot, Claude. Both are amazing companies.
How You Can Prepare for the IPO
As an employee at either firm, there are several areas to know as each company prepares to go public. They are:
- Know what you own
- Understand the tax impact
- Share ownership once company is public
Know What You Own
Check your employee portal and understand what type of equity shares you own. There are many types of shares and they look like alphabet soup – RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, etc.
Know when you get ownership of your shares. This is known as vesting. The time period is typically 3 to 5 years.
Each kind of equity has different characteristics. We won’t be talking about the specifics of each because that would take too long. There are a lot of great articles on this site about each type of equity.
When SpaceX and Anthropic complete their S-1 filings, you will learn a lot about the share ownership of the businesses.
Once you know what you own, you can move onto the next step – discerning taxes.
Understand the Tax Impact
Just as each type of equity has different characteristics, so too are the tax consequences. For instance, RSUs and NSOs are taxed just like ordinary income, but RSUs sometimes have withholding tax consequences.
ISOs are completely different. They can be taxed as part of AMT along with long term capital gains taxes, as long as you own them for 2 years or longer. If your ownership is shorter than this timeframe, then you must pay ordinary income taxes on ISOs. It’s confusing.
These rules are consistent across all companies, including SpaceX and Anthropic.
Share Ownership at a Public Company
When your company does have a successful IPO, you cannot buy and sell shares whenever you would like. There are restricted time periods before earnings reports – 4 times a year.
Typically, you can buy or sell shares after the earnings announcements for a period of one month. You only have four times during the year to adjust your share ownership. Other restrictions can apply based on your level at the company.
As you continue to work for SpaceX or Anthropic, you will probably receive more shares as a form of compensation. Your share ownership will become more complicated and the value of your shares will fluctuate every day.
Make the Right Decision
When SpaceX and Anthropic register their S-1 filings, we will know a lot more about the timing of the IPOs in 2026.
You can play out an IPO dialogue in your head that is so familiar that it will drain your imagination, block your will, and fool yourself into arriving at a cold conclusion that you know what you are doing.
Or you can hire me to guide you through this life changing money event.