SpaceX Making IPOs Great Again & Does Your Dog Love You? 6/16/26

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0:37stocks and ETFs. Hmm, that's music to my ears. I can only talk. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Zero account fees apply to retail brokerage accounts only. Zero dollar commission does not apply to customers designated by Fidelity as a professional equity trader. A limited number of ETFs are subject to a service fee of$100. See details at Fidelity.com slash commissions. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, member NYSE SIPC. Bring in show music, please. Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod. Have you heard about SpaceX? Elon Musk's massive Wall Street public offering has the company on a meteoric rise.

1:14Will other mega IPOs follow suit? We got the SEC chair on and woo, our IPO's hot. Let's go, baby. Paul Atkins of the Securities and Exchange Commission on the enthusiasm. Well, I think it's a great testament to the U.S. capital markets. And the goals. The real story is the other ones that are in the pipeline and how we need to make our markets more predictable and attractive for companies to go public. Then Arthur Brooks, professor and columnist on what's good for us and the personal scandals that probably aren't good for politics. So private life and public life. But the truth is, if that's all you know about a politician, that's a good indicator of performance.

1:56That's a good indicator of ethics. That's a good indicator of character. And if that's all you know, that's actually something worth voting on. Plus, President Trump at the G7 summit, our Megan Casella, reports. The European leaders have really wanted to see the U.S. step up more. And jobs. Artificial intelligence taking a toll at the headcount of another tech high flyer. Was it the workforce bloated or is it AI? It is Tuesday, June 16th, 2026. Squawk Pod begins right now. Stand Becky by in three, two, one. Cue, please. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We are live from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square.

2:40I'm Becky Quick, along with Joe Kernan. Andrew is off today. Had a big market cap already and then gained another 20 percent in its first full day of trading. Talking about SpaceX, it was a 20 percent gain on its first day from the IPO price when the shares started trading just before noon. Companies market cap now above two point five trillion dollars. SpaceX investor relations saying that the total raise in the IPO was$85.7 billion after underwriters officially exercised their over allotment of shares, commonly known as a green shoe option. We had Ron Barron here yesterday. He said he asked for a billion dollars and he got a billion dollars on Friday in terms of what he has.

3:25So now he's got more than$25 billion. And that was before the gains that you saw yesterday. Wow. So he hit that. He's got$25 billion. He had$24 billion before he put another billion dollars that he took for his funds. His funds, yeah. And, yeah, that was before the 20 % gains you saw yesterday. Asked him how much he made, hundreds of millions of dollars. Yeah, so far. So far. So far. Shatner. Yeah. I'm going to find it.

3:55Senior staffers from Anthropic meeting with Trump administration officials to try to resolve their latest dispute. A source tells CNBC that that gathering took place in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Last week, the government ordered Anthropic to suspend foreign nationals' access to its latest AI models over security concerns. According to Reuters, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the company there were worries that its technology could end up in the hands of military intelligence in China, Russia or other countries. The Washington Post says that the White House weighed export controls against Anthropic weeks ago after the administration learned a Korean telecom company suspected of having ties to China had been given access.

4:39News just out from Robinhood, the trading platform cutting 10 percent of its workforce. Company said it's taking the action to maintain a high performance culture, further accelerate product velocity and remain lean and disciplined. and we're going to be, every time something like this happens, we're going to be asking, was it the workforce bloated or is it AI? It was an AI. Now, Joe Lonsdale was just here last week and told us. He says everybody's bloated. He thinks everybody who uses this excuse is doing it because they were bloated and they were hired. Yeah, I remember that he said that, yeah.

5:10And some of his friends in the industry think the same thing. So it's tough to say. It didn't sound like Robin Hood was saying AI. No. No. No one wants to cop to that. They want us to... Well, for a while, everybody was using it as an excuse. Oh, it's not that I overhired. It's that we can do things more efficiently. Well, now, you know, when they're getting booed at graduation. Yeah, maybe a little down low on that. Thank you very much, everybody. We appreciate you being here. We've had a great meeting. We have a great relationship. The Amir is a fantastic man, respected all over the world. President Trump sitting down with the Amir of Qatar in just the last hour at the G7 summit in France.

5:54Megan Casella joins us right now. She's got more on what's been happening at the G7 and what we can expect throughout the day. Megan, good morning. Becky, good morning. That's right. All of those leaders just across the lake from where I'm standing right now, sitting down in Evian, France right now for a meeting with Middle Eastern leaders, all of those G7 leaders around one table talking about a lot of things, but of course, the Iran deal being top of mind. And at the top of that meeting that we saw earlier today between the president and the leader of Qatar. We really heard from President Trump the most that we've heard from him since this memorandum of understanding was signed on Sunday.

6:27And he was really out there defending his deal, saying, of course, that now it goes to a second stage, which he believes will be easier, saying he thinks the deal can survive even if Israel continues attacking Lebanon. And he also spoke a little bit about the financial relief that's on the table for Iran. Take a listen to some of the president's remarks. We are not investing any money in Iran, by the way. That rumor got out there yesterday. It was ridiculous. We have the right to go in someday and do — if I want to do something, or somebody wants to do something. But we are not investing any money.

6:59We have no obligation to invest any money in Iran. Now, guys, senior U.S. officials did tell reporters yesterday that a$300 billion fund to reconstruct Iran is on the table, along with sanctions relief and the potential unfreezing of Iranian funds, but that all of it is tied to Iran's performance. The president, though, differentiating between investing in the country and that$300 billion fund. So some defense going on there today. The other big topic at the G7 today has been the other war that's going on, Russia and Ukraine. The president confirmed that he did sit down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this morning and that he will be meeting with him again later today.

7:36President Trump called that a very good meeting, but he sought to distance the U.S. from that Russia-Ukraine war, saying, yes, the U.S. sells weapons to Europe, but otherwise, he says, we have nothing to do with it. So two wars on the table, a bunch of other topics as well, AI being in the focus more tomorrow than today, trade on the agenda as well. Of course, all of this top of mind for the leaders, Iran being at forefront. Guys. Megan, he did say that he thinks Russia should strike a deal when it comes to this because of the enormous number of people that they're losing every month, young people, he said, military age people who are going to the front.

8:10I think he said on average it's 25 ,000 a month and that, if anything, he would weigh in because he'd like to see an end to that. Absolutely. He also said he thought that this war was going to be easier to solve than it has been, that he would really like to see Russia make a deal. And, of course, this is really at the forefront because of those fresh attacks. We saw Russia launch just on Sunday, putting this at the forefront of everybody's minds leading into the G7. Zelensky was out with a statement right after that saying he wanted to see a forceful response from the G7. Emmanuel Macron, the leader this year of the host country, saying that he wanted to be discussing a ceasefire this week.

8:42So that's on the table. But the president, there have been so many questions about what the U.S.'s role would be here in ongoing fashion when it comes to the Ukraine war. The European leaders have really wanted to see the U.S. step up more. And the president pretty clearly saying, yes, we sell them weapons, but we sell them at full price. We don't give any money for this. And he wants to mostly stay out of it. Yeah. All right, Megan, thank you very much. I thought how nice, you know, it says G7, and then it says, brought to you by Evian. Did you see that? That's the town. Yeah. Evian Waterfront.

9:14So it's not being sponsored. I thought how nice that was. Waterfront is named after the... So I'm looking it up, and I want to know where Evian is in France. So I said... Directly across from Geneva, she said across the lake. Yeah, Anthropic. Yeah. So the G7's in Evian, France. No, no, it's not in Evian. Evian and a bang? That was 2003. This is Claude. That was 2003. The 2025 G7 summit was held in Kenesakis, Alberta. And I said, OK, fine. What about the current G7 taking place today? That is today. The Kenesakis summit runs June 15th to June 17th. So today, June 16th is day two. It's currently underway.

9:52Then it gave me the key issues. And I said, wasn't that last year? Claude says, no, that's this year, 2025, and happening right now this week. Today is June 16, 2025. I said, isn't this, this year is not 2025, is it? Isn't it 2026? I'm sorry. You're right. I'm sorry. It is 2026. Let me check. You were right. It is inevitable. That's the current state. And by the way, how much energy did you burn for? Yeah, this is what the U.S. military is arguing. This is anthropic right now. This is the state of a... That's the free version. You're not paying. If you search anything and take it as an answer on any AI...

10:43Buy or beware. Go back to the drawing board. But it's free. Yeah, and that's exactly what it's worth. Cheese will be next. Still to come on Squawk Pod, making IPOs great again? The SpaceX enthusiasm may be greasing the wheels for other big offerings. The market's chief regulator, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins. I mean, the tone has changed, obviously. And tone means a lot in the marketplace, as you know, market sentiment. We'll be right back.

11:21at Venture Global. We think about what can be done, not what's usually done. Through innovation, Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time. So while others are busy talking, we're busy building. That's Venture Global. That's unstoppable energy. Hey, Fidelity. How can I remember to invest every month? With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs. Oh, that sounds easier than I thought.

12:05You got this. Yeah, I do. Now, where did I put my keys? You will find them where you left them. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, member NYSE SIPC. It's Charles Barkley here with Wayfair. And let me tell you, game day is serious business at my house. If I'm grilling, chilling, and watching hoops, my outdoor setup better be ready to play. That's what Wayfair wins. From patio seating and umbrellas to grills and grill accessories, Wayfair's got it all, and it shows up fast. I'm talking fast and easy delivery. So level up your grill game and your outdoor chill game and head to Wayfair.com to get your outdoor space ready for the season.

12:49Wayfair, every style, every home. And we're back. This is Squawk Pod. I think it's 2026. I'm going to check on that. It's a catchy PT version. Tuesday, but you know what's weird about Tuesday? It's like in different parts of the world, it could be Wednesday, it could be Monday, right? Just based on the time change? Yeah, so that's confusing. It's Tuesday here where we are. I'm trying to cut Claude some slack. So it might be 2025 in France? No, that's a big, if you're off by a year, it's not good. It was in Canada. I'm Joe Kernan along with Becky Quick. Anyway, SpaceX is the largest IPO to date, but other mega listings like Anthropic and OpenAI are expected this year as well.

13:35Join us for more on the IPO pipeline. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, good to have you on. Well, thank you, Joe. It's great to be here. It's funny to intro you like that. We got the SEC chair on and woo, our IPO's hot. Let's go, baby. But in a way, it is good for the country, is it not? Well, I think it's a great testament to the U.S. capital markets. We have the largest and most liquid capital markets in the world. And so there's a lot of tension on SpaceX and some of the other ones that are coming up. But part of our whole drive here at the SEC under my leadership over the last 14 months has been to make IPOs great again.

14:15And so we've had a big bang. But the real story is the other ones that are in the pipeline and how we need to make our markets more predictable and attractive and practical for companies to go public. That doesn't mean that companies are saying we've got to do it while Atkins is chairman. Is there a push to do it while it might be a more fertile time? It's not because of you. No, it's right. I mean, the tone has changed, obviously. And tone means a lot. in the marketplace as you know market sentiment but we're looking at the long term. We had so our new corporation finance director compares it to this old house where you know we're out to scrape away the layers of paint on the banister and the doors that don't work and whatnot to make it go back down to the wood put the primer on and then the finishing coat to really make our whole system more practical, less complicated, less expensive, and to drive, to draw people out from in the private markets into the public markets.

15:24I mean, we talk about all the time how much longer companies stay private. There's a lot of reasons for that, obviously. But do you think some of them were what you've just been talking about? Absolutely. And if the public isn't, we just, I saw an ad that was just running on CBC about the first time the normal people can ever get in on any of these things. They have stayed private much longer, and the valuation gets to much higher levels, so the average person doesn't get any of that. Well, when I started out as a young lawyer up here in New York doing IPOs back in the mid-'80s, a big IPO would be what's a B or maybe C round in the private equity side these days.

16:07So, you know, we have now half the number of public companies as we had 30 years ago. And so my whole goal is to increase the number, to get it so that, you know, that there is a good balance between the private and public market. What do you hear from companies in terms of why they don't want to go public? I assume you've been talking to some of these companies. What would make them more likely to go public earlier? Well, there are basically three big things. and one is just the cost of disclosure and the complexity of the rules around it. Which is why the administration has proposed doing it every six months instead of every three?

16:50Well, that's what we came out with. So the cadence of disclosure is one thing perhaps, but it's just the sheer volume of it. And then to sustain the apparatus of being able to keep current and to keep these... How about mandatory arbitration? Who was that we had on? Was it last week or the week before where the answer was lawyers, lawyers, lawyers? It was a lawyer. It was Jay Clayton, who is a lawyer. It was right around the time he was coming on. There was some industry and some state that did something that changed the tort. There was some tort before. So this would do it, wouldn't it? Right.

17:28Well, so we have basically three major parts of what we're trying to do to make IPOs great again. One is addressing the cost and complexity of disclosure. We've departed way away from what the Supreme Court has directed us to do, and that's look at financial materiality, not what somebody here or there, even a big investor or a special, somebody with an ax to grind wants to know, but what the reasonable investor and objective case needs to know in order to make an investment decision. Second is looking at the cost of litigation. And so with the SEC in the past has turned away IPOs that had in the bylaws of the company requiring mandatory arbitration.

18:11You like it. I'm sorry? It's in SpaceX. Yeah, it is. It is in SpaceX. But Delaware has outlawed that. But basically Texas is different. There are 49 other states besides Delaware. and SpaceX is incorporated in Texas and has that provision. But there is some pushback that's come. I think the New York State controller, Thomas DiNopoli, the New York City controller, CalPERS CEO Marcy Frost, all of them wrote a letter saying that they were opposed to this idea that they didn't think that their investors could get a fair shake if they weren't allowed to bring class action lawsuits at some point. Well, so we'll see.

18:48But if Texas allows it and the company has done it, The SEC is not a merit regulator. We don't pick winners and losers. We call balls and strikes. And so with respect to things of corporate law, matters of corporate state law, that's not in our bailiwick. We make sure that there's disclosure in it and then let the investors decide what's best. So you might, there was a proposal on Friday to formally rescind the climate risk disclosure regulation that was adopted under Gary Gensler. So that takes the notion that CO2 at 400 parts per million or whatever it is, what increases the risk of certain climate events, and this is something that companies needed to do what with in terms of what was that SEC rule.

19:40And it was based on climate models that we now have seen some of them totally pulled back on the worst case scenarios. Well, I think that's a poster child of how the SEC has veered away from financial materiality, what a reasonable investor needs to know in order to make an investment decision, as the Supreme Court stated. And so we propose to withdraw that rule, to rescind it. It's out for comment, so we're welcoming your comment. What would they have to say, Dan, if there's adverse weather? five years from now, this is something you have to consider in an investment in our company or something?

20:21Well, it was a very... Someone said that with a straight... Gensler proposed that with a straight face. It was very... It's a very complicated rule. It was put on ice almost immediately after it was... There isn't any ice left. Well, there... In the Arctic. Not supposed to be. But anyway, but public companies need to disclose what's material to them. And if there be something with respect to some aspect of potential climate change that isn't just speculation that they need to disclose, then that's one thing. But this rule went way beyond it by the SEC's own SEC. I have no words. So the CFTC doesn't have enough money to do the prediction markets, does it?

21:06Don't you need to help? Well, the CFTC, I'm really happy to say, is now led by Mike Selig, who's a very capable fellow. Do you think they can handle it, or do the individual states need to? How is it going to play out? It seems like the wild, wild west right now. Well, I think Mike Selig is addressing that. So he came from my office. He was the chief counsel of our crypto task force, and so he's a very capable, smart fellow. I think he's doing a great job at the CFTC. And so I think he's trying to make sense of the various innovative products that are being traded around the world. And so what we need to do is make sure that innovation happens in the United States under American laws for the benefit of American investors.

21:57We all remember, what was the name of that? I remember in Wall Street, it was right before Charlie Sheen got in trouble. But the SEC has always been the one that watches for inside information and trading on that. The prediction markets seem rife with that. You're not involved? You're leaving that up to the CFTC? Well, so we have been approaching the markets for the first time ever in harmony with the CFTC to try to end the turf battles, the endless turf battles between the SEC and the CFTC. We're sticking to the securities markets. They own the commodities markets. They have an equivalent, an analog to the rules at the SEC regarding inside trading in the securities markets.

22:44In the commodities markets, they are in the process of looking at that and obviously working with the Justice Department to address cases of people who are manipulating the markets. It wasn't Charlie Sheen. Actually, it was someone who played Bud Fox. It wasn't Michael Douglas. It was Gordon Gekko. I don't want to get sued. Anyway, it's good to have you on. Yeah, well, it's great to be here. Good to see you all again. Good to see you. Thank you. Next on Squawk Pod, our happiness guru, Arthur Brooks. Sports, politics, pets, what really makes us happy. When you make eye contact with your dog and pet your dog, your dog gets a 56 % bump in oxytocin, meaning that your dog neurochemically actually loves you.

23:36Never bet against American grit or American energy. Through innovation, Venture Global is not only building some of the largest energy facilities in the world right here in the United States, but delivering American energy at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time. So while others are busy talking, we're busy building. That's Venture Global. That's unstoppable energy.

24:05Hey, Fidelity. How can I remember to invest every month? With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs. Oh, that sounds easier than I thought. You got this. Yeah, I do. Now, where did I put my keys? You will find them where you left them. Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, member NYSE SIPC. Game day at my place is kind of a big deal. If I'm grilling, chilling, and watching hoops, my outdoor patio setup better be ready to play. That's where Wayfair wins. From patio seating and umbrellas to grills and grilling accessories, Wayfair's got it all, and it shows up fast.

24:54I'm talking championship-level fast and easy delivery. So level up your grill game and your outdoor chill game and head to Wayfair.com now to get your outdoor space ready for the season. You're listening to Squawk Pod from CNBC. Today with Joe Kernan and Becky Quick, joined now by Arthur Brooks. Welcome back, everybody. The New York Knicks won the NBA Finals on Saturday night, and then they set another record, this one in business. Fnatic says that New York sold the most merchandise following an NBA championship ever. That amounted to more than 8 ,000 orders per minute. The all-time sales record following a championship to this point belonged to the 2016 Chicago Cubs, although New York could still beat that record.

25:45I don't know how far back this goes because this is as long as Fanatics has been in business. I don't know if it goes back to like the Bulls, three-peat type of thing. Inflation adjusted. Inflation adjusted and the idea that you can sell to the entire country online, which you used to be able to do. It's a proportion to how long I mean the Cubs. How long has it been since you won? When they finally won, how long it had been? 53 years for us. I know, but it was a lot longer than that. I want to say it was... Rick would know. How long was the Cubs drought in the championship? Brooksie is here. Good morning to you.

26:26I thought we had Albert Brooks. I'm not Albert Brooks. 108 years. I met Albert Brooks one time. Did you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was sitting right next to him. You're a little cheerier. Yeah, and I said he is not happy. Maybe he is. He's actually hilarious. Very funny, but he's a little dark. He said, what's your name? I said, my name is Arthur Brooks. He said, you're kidding me. And I said, yeah. And people have been calling me Albert since I was a kid because you're so famous. And without breaking a smile, without thinking at all, he said, imagine how Adam Hitler must have felt. That fast. That fast.

26:57Very funny, but you're far more cheerful. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's sort of off-brand for me to be grumpy, right? I saw an excess on Twitter the other day. There's some comedian talking about the name Hitler. It's gone. Any relatives. Erase it. There is no name Hitler anywhere. Maybe there is. It's not that great to be bin Laden. Probably not. That's rare. There's a lot of them, I think, still. Celebrating the Knicks victory in the NBA Finals isn't just good for New York. It's good for the country. According to Albert, Arthur, Harvard University professor, Arthur Brooks, he's a columnist with the free press host of the Office Hours with Arthur Brooks podcast.