What if anything might prevent Amazon or some other mega-cap from getting a controlling interest at the IPO?
Are mega-caps likely to be dominant buyers from the underwriters? Or will retail / pension funds be just as big.
Are mega-caps likely to be dominant buyers from the underwriters? Or will retail / pension funds be just as big.
The thing is it most likely not going to happen, because they would almost certainly get a better deal buying majority interest before any IPO.
Underwriters will typically take the highest price there will be no preference for the "mega-caps". Underwriters float stocks every day, they need to keep happy their core investors who make every other deal happen - retail / pension funds. It would probably even be preferable, if there was demand from Amazon or some other mega-cap to give them 0 in the float and then they can bid up the price in the open market and make everyone who is allocated in the IPO richer.
~20% of the shares will be in the IPO, even if someone buys every share publicly available in the IPO they wont have a controlling interest.