Why Companies Like OpenAI and SpaceX Are Staying Private Longer

Private companies — especially those in tech — are raising billions of dollars to delay, and sometimes even shun, a path to public markets. These efforts are creating vast wealth for employees and early-stage stakeholders, while shutting out most people who can’t invest in them through things such as 401(k) retirement accounts provided by some US companies. The numbers show a dramatic shift from just a few decades ago, and the trend has become even more stark as initial public offerings (IPOs) have receded since a pandemic-era frenzy. As a result, a relatively small group of people have access to the upside while the vast majority of potential investors can only watch from the sidelines.

Yes. Over the past two decades, the number of publicly listed companies around the globe has been shrinking. In the US alone, the number of publicly traded companies has dropped by nearly half, from roughly 7,500 in 1997 to fewer than 4,000 today, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices.