Elon Musks SpaceX drives hard bargain with bankers ahead of IPO: report

SpaceX is reportedly driving a hard bargain with financial institutions ahead of what could become the largest IPO in history — even as bankers stand to pocket a sweet half-billion-dollar payday.Elon Musk’s space and artificial intelligence conglomerate is negotiating to pay less than 0.75% in underwriting fees on the roughly $75 billion it plans to raise in a blockbuster public offering expected this month, according to Bloomberg News.The cut-rate fee would be a fraction of the 4% to 7% typically charged on smaller IPOs and below the more than 1% that investment banks usually collect on gigantic public offerings, Bloomberg noted.Yet the out-of-this-world offering is so big that Wall Street banks could still split about $500 million in fees among themselves.Meanwhile, as SpaceX executives haggle with Wall Street over IPO fees, rank-and-file employees are mounting their own negotiations — banding together to secure discounted wealth-management services and sophisticated tax strategies ahead of what could be the biggest IPO windfall in history, Bloomberg reported.The deal is being led by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which are expected to collect a larger share of the fee pool than the other 21 firms participating in the syndicate, according to the outlet.The Post has sought comment from SpaceX, Goldman and Morgan Stanley.The prospect of what could become the largest IPO in history appears to be giving Musk unusual leverage over Wall Street.SpaceX is targeting a valuation of about $1.8 trillion, according to reports.If successful, the company’s planned $75 billion fundraising would shatter previous IPO records and instantly become one of the largest capital raises ever attempted in public markets.The fee talks also show how fiercely banks compete for high-profile deals, even if it means accepting lower profits margins.In 2010, Wall Street firms agreed to a 0.75% fee to handle General Motors’ return to public markets after the automaker’s government-bac...