Upcoming posts (in no particular order): Gartner, Visa/Mastercard, Tractor Supply, Waystar, CCC, and Fortive
As SpaceX drew up plans to go public, I don’t imagine there was much debate about where its stock would be listed. It might be traded in any number of venues, sure. When you punch in an order to buy SPCX on Interactive Brokers, Interactive Brokers might buy those shares from dark pools or alternative trading systems or wholesalers1. But for a company of SpaceX prominence, shares were bound to be listed in at least one of two places – the NYSE or, in SpaceX’s case, the Nasdaq. Both exchanges maintain standards around disclosures, financial reporting, and governance (haha), so listing there is a kind of quality screen, a sign to mutual funds and pension funds and indices that you’re legit. Companies that list on such eligible exchanges will have an easier time raising capital, compensating employees with stock, and drawing institutional attention than those that don’t.
But what if you’re not SpaceX? What if you’re a small cannabis retailer or a community bank or a distressed auto parts supplier that no one’s ever heard of and you don’t have the resources to afford a listing on a major exchange or the willingness to meet their onerous disclosure standards? Then what?
