I Went To A Spacex Ipo Protest. The Target Wasn't Just Trillionaires — It Was Wall Street.

• A group of protestors gathered at JPMorgan's HQ as Elon Musk became the world's first trillionaire.
• The organization, Stop Funding Billionaires, is pushing unions and pensions to not invest in SpaceX.
• The protest featured three pro-trillionaire "counterprotesters" toasting with fake champagne.

As SpaceX started trading on the public markets, a group of about 30 protesters in front of JPMorgan's new headquarters chanted "No billionaires, no trillionaires" and held a banner that said "Stop Elon. No Trillionaires."

A few minutes later, organizer Jonathan Westin broke the news to the protesters that SpaceX founder Elon Musk had become a trillionaire to a chorus of boos, and the crowd broke out into chants like "SpaceX sucks."

The group was gathered outside to protest a planned party at JPMorgan's headquarters celebrating the IPO. JPMorgan declined to comment on the protests.

Westin told the crowd that while bankers were inside enjoying champagne, regular people were struggling with higher costs and being pushed into what he said was an overhyped investment.

"Our grocery prices are rising, our utility bills are going up, our rent is going up, and these billionaires are toasting champagne in this Death Star headquarters at JPMorgan," Westin said, describing the recently opened JPM headquarters.

Behind the chants is a more targeted campaign: Stop Funding Billionaires, a coalition of unions and organizers like New York Communities for Change, is organizing to stop big institutional investors, such as pension funds and unions, from putting workers' retirement money into SpaceX and similar businesses.

"We're out here to ring the alarm that we shouldn't be putting workers' retirement funds at risk over what, essentially, we feel is a cash grab by Elon Musk," Westin told me.

Follow the money

The group on Thursday sent a letter to over a dozen organizations in New York, including the comptrollers of New York City and New York state, asking them not to invest in SpaceX. The firm is talking to unions and other institutional investors to ask them to avoid investing.

Natalie Renta, associate director of corporate governance and power at the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund, told me that not only does SpaceX's lack of profit concern her, but it's the amount of total control Musk has over the company and the lack of accountability to shareholders.

"Elon Musk is really pushing the boundaries of how much control one person could have over a public company," Renta said.

And while the group is putting pressure on organizations like public and union pension funds with some semblance of democratic member control, Renta explained that the risk for financial professionals is much wider.

She highlighted a memo from law firm Gupta Wessler LLP arguing that, just because index-tracking funds typically follow whatever Nasdaq or S&P 500 adds to their indexes, it doesn't mean advisors don't have a fiduciary duty to investors. In other words, just because you're following the index doesn't mean you won't be on the line if the company goes bust.

On the ground

The protest, set up in front of the headquarters Park Avenue entrance, lasted about 30 minutes in the 90-degree weather. During the protest, building security instructed workers attempting to enter through that entrance to go around the corner to the other side of the building.

Three "counterprotestors" dressed in ostentatious clothing with fake money stashed in their pockets toasted the crowd with some fake champagne. The three told me their names were Belle D'Ball, Angus Beefsteak the Third, and William Bentley Everrich, or Will B Everrich for short, and that they were happy to have Elon join them as trillionaires. (Musk is the first-ever trillionaire).

"The plight of the wealthy doesn't get enough attention in this society, so we want to make sure that our voices are understood," said Beefsteak, chewing on a fake cigar.

The group then gave a speech before announcing they were departing to "go upstairs" and drink champagne with the bankers.

While the group chanted, some passersby stopped to take it in. One man, wearing a dress shirt and holding a suit jacket, joined in with the crowd and held up a folder with the name of Argentine bank Banco de Tierra del Fuego written on it as if it were a sign. It seemed to be a joke, as his companions pointed, laughed, and took a picture of him.

A group of young finance bros types walked by, with one saying, "You're in the wrong spot, you're in front of the wrong headquarters." (While JPMorgan was a top bank involved with the underwriting effort, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were the leads.) As the protest died down, the sparse police presence actually increased, seemingly in preparation for the sure-to-be swanky JPMorgan party, with SpaceX-branded tomahawk steaks on the menu.

The protesters were trying to stop retirees' money from flowing to billionaires. The vibe at JPMorgan, where delivery workers were shuffling in red and yellow balloons, was a little more: Let them eat steak.