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South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service is widening its probe into Mirae Asset Securities after the firm failed to secure a single share in SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO. The investigation, which began around June 14, centers on whether Mirae adequately warned investors that they might end up with nothing.
Here’s the thing: Mirae didn’t just miss out on a few shares. The firm was listed in SEC filings as having committed to purchasing 2,314,815 shares at $135 apiece, a position worth roughly $312.5 million. Goldman Sachs, acting as lead underwriter, allocated exactly zero of those shares to Mirae. Every single subscription deposit had to be refunded.
The biggest IPO meets the biggest snub
SpaceX’s IPO raised $75 billion, making it the largest public offering in history by a wide margin. The company debuted at $135 per share, implying a valuation of approximately $1.76 trillion at the offer price.
Shares then surged 19% on their first day of trading, closing at $161 and pushing SpaceX’s market cap above $2.1 trillion. Mirae’s Korean clients were not among those who got shares at the IPO price.
Mirae had been pushing for a dedicated Korea tranche targeting between $1 billion and $5 billion in allocations. A separate $500 million offering tied to local demand reportedly sold out in minutes. Institutional appetite globally was so overwhelming that smaller distribution partners simply got squeezed out.
What the FSS is actually looking for
The Financial Supervisory Service, South Korea’s primary financial watchdog, isn’t investigating whether Mirae committed fraud. The core question is narrower but potentially just as damaging: did Mirae provide adequate risk disclosures to investors about the possibility of receiving zero shares?
This matters because the mechanics of IPO allocation are, by design, opaque. Lead underwriters like Goldman Sachs have enormous discretion over who gets shares and who doesn’t. Being named in an SEC filing as a committed buyer doesn’t guarantee delivery. It signals intent, not a binding contract for final allocation.
What this means for investors
The immediate fallout forced many Korean retail investors and asset managers to scramble for SpaceX exposure on the secondary market. Buying at $161 (or higher, as shares continued trading) instead of $135 means paying a meaningful premium.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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