Why Retail Investors Are Getting Larger Portions of IPO Shares

Summary

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WSJ What’s News (September 12, 2025)

Episode Theme:
Why Retail Investors Are Getting Larger Portions of IPO Shares

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Main Overview

This episode dives into recent trends in IPO allocations, focusing on why companies are giving retail investors unprecedented access to IPO shares. It also spotlights the broader consequences of this shift for public market debuts and investor dynamics, before turning to a comprehensive look at how the ongoing US-China trade war is impacting US soybean farmers.

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Key Segments and Discussion Points

1. Top Headlines and Brief Updates

Timestamps: 00:31–03:20

• Fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk; suspect Tyler Robinson in custody ([00:57]).
• Comments from Utah Governor Spencer Cox: Robinson “had become more political in recent years” ([01:42]).
• President Trump’s call for the death penalty for the perpetrator, and announcement of National Guard deployment to Memphis ([02:11]).
• Decline in US economic confidence: University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index drops ([03:25]).

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2. Market Wrap and IPO Volatility

Timestamps: 03:51–07:03

Context

• Nasdaq closed at another record high, while other indexes were mixed ([03:51]).
• Recent IPOs—Circle, Figma, Bullish—experienced sharp first-day price jumps, which, paradoxically, can be negative for companies and long-term shareholders.

Interview: Corey Driebush, WSJ Capital Markets Reporter

Timestamps: 04:43–07:03

• Problem with “popping” IPOs:

  • “On the outside it looks like, oh, this should have been a great ipo. … But the amount they traded up was so substantial that it actually you cross over from being great to being a negative pretty fast.”
    —Corey Driebush ([04:43])

• Long-term Fund Managers Sell Out:

  • “The whole point of an IPO is you're picking and oftentimes hand selecting the exact fund managers you want to own shares of your company for the long term. And when a stock triples on its first day … those fund managers have a fiduciary duty … to sell the stock and lock in some of those gains.”
    —Corey Driebush ([04:55])

• New Approach: Larger Retail Allocations

  • Recent IPOs (Klarna, Figure Technology, Gemini Space Station) allocated up to 30% of shares to retail investors, versus the typical 5–7% ([06:00]).
  • “Klarna was selling more shares than traditional to retail investors. … Gemini … up to 30% … which is a huge number.”
    —Corey Driebush ([06:00])

• Why Less Volatility Now:

  • “Stocks have really come down a bunch since then and that has … lessened the exuberance … for buying at the open by retail investors.”
    —Corey Driebush ([06:36])

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3. The US-China Soybean Crisis

Timestamps: 07:55–10:45

Context

• China, the world’s largest soybean importer, has all but stopped buying US product, leaving American farmers exposed amid harvest season ([07:55]).

Interview: Patrick Thomas, WSJ Agriculture Reporter

Timestamps: 08:26–10:45

• China's Retaliation Tactics:

  • “The farmer is basically caught in the middle of the trade war between Washington and Beijing and about a quarter of all American soybeans historically have ended up going to China. So what China can do is not take those imports. And that leaves a ton of soybeans just left in the market, stuck in U.S. storage.”
    —Patrick Thomas ([08:26])
  • “During the first Trump trade war, US Farmers were estimated to lose somewhere around the neighborhood of over $20 billion and a large part of that was soybean farmers and we're kind of headed for that again today.” —Patrick Thomas ([00:46])

• China Turning to Brazil:

  • “They built up infrastructure in Brazil, investments in their supply chain, and basically, Brazil last year provided 70% of China's soy imports, which is double the share from about 15 years ago.”
    —Patrick Thomas ([09:05])

• Limited Options for Farmers:

  • “So what farmers can do is they're cutting back on equipment, … trying to switch more acres to corn. But by and large, there's not a ton that farmers can do except hope that they come to a resolution.”
    —Patrick Thomas ([09:42])

• On a Looming Deadline:

  • “The clock is really ticking. … October is the key date, because if we're still having this spat with China come October, that's when things could really hit the fan.”
    —Patrick Thomas ([10:19])

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4. Agriculture & Policy Updates

Timestamps: 10:47–end

• More US farmers are switching to corn, with the Agriculture Department projecting a record harvest ([10:47]).
• Exclusive news: Kenview CEO met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to keep Tylenol off a report as a potential cause of autism, with the company denying any link ([10:47]).
• Quick correction: Vice President J.D. Vance’s travel date to Utah.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On IPO Allocations:

  • “Gemini … up to 30% of shares of the IPO to retail investors, which is a huge number when you think that usually between around 5 to 7% go to retail investors.”
    —Corey Driebush ([06:00])

• On the Soybean Impasse:

  • “We've built our farm industrial complex around soybeans in the last 20 years … there's a lot of money riding on the success of soybeans.”
    —Patrick Thomas ([09:42])

• On a Time Crunch for Resolutions:

  • “October is the key date, because if we're still having this spat with China come October, that's when things could really hit the fan.”
    —Patrick Thomas ([10:19])

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Conclusion

The episode provides a concise yet in-depth look at two pivotal financial stories: the strategic reallocation of IPO shares to retail investors, and the impact of the US-China trade war on US agriculture, especially soybeans. The show offers expert analysis, key quotes, and color on the dynamics driving new market realities in both finance and global trade, useful for anyone tracking market trends and policy fallout.

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Transcript

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[Alex Osola]

Authorities Name the suspect for the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk plus why companies are allocating larger portions of IPO shares to retail investors and American soybean farmers are caught in the middle of the trade war with China.

[Patrick Thomas]

During the first Trump trade war, US Farmers were estimated to lose somewhere around the neighborhood of over $20 billion and a large part of that was soybean farmers and we're kind of headed for that again today.

[Alex Osola]

It's Friday, September 12th. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. This is a PM edition of what's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Authorities say they have taken 22 year old Tyler Robinson into custody for the shooting of Charlie Kirk, who was killed on Wednesday while on stage at Utah Valley University. Robinson, who is from Utah, attended the university for one semester in 2021. The college confirmed he has in the past registered as a nonpartisan voter in Utah, while his parents are registered as Republicans. Speaking at a press conference, Utah Governor Spencer Cox described what is known about the suspect.

[Utah Governor Spencer Cox]

Investigators interviewed a family member, Robinson, who stated that Robinson had become more political in recent years. The family member referenced a recent incident in which Robinson came to dinner prior to September10, and in the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to uvu. They talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate.

[Alex Osola]

Cox said that law enforcement believe that Robinson acted alone, but added that the investigation is ongoing. He also said that investigators believe Robinson was active on messaging platform Discord, where he allegedly posted about engraving bullets and needing to retrieve a rifle from a drop point. In an interview on Fox News this morning, President Trump said that he wants the perpetrator to get the death penalty if found guilty for the killing. In the same interview, Trump said that he plans to deploy National Guard troops to Memphis, Tennessee, calling the city, quote, deeply troubled. It's part of a crackdown on crime across the country following the Trump administration's intervention. In Washington, D.C. the Office of Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The Memphis Police Department recently reported that overall crime had fallen to a 25 year low, with the number of murders dropping to a six year low, but rates remain among the highest in the country. On Sunday, we'll be talking a lot more about President Trump's plans and deployment of the National Guard to U.S. cities. We discuss the nation's mixed reactions and where it could go from here. That's in what's New Sunday.

[Corey Driebush]

Foreign.

[Alex Osola]

Confidence in the economy is waning while long term inflation expectations have risen. That's according to a preliminary September estimate from the University of Michigan. The survey's confidence index declined to 55.4 from 58.2 in August, lower than economists expected. Consumers are frustrated by both sticky inflation and a slowing labor market.

[Corey Driebush]

Foreign.

[Alex Osola]

Breaking week ended with the Nasdaq on top even as major US indexes ended the day mixed. The Dow fell about 0.6% and the S&P 500 dipped a fifth of a percent. The Nasdaq added about 0.4%, closing at another record high. In the past few months, we've talked about companies such as Circle, Figma and Bullish that have made their stock market debut only to have big price jumps on their first trading days. That sounds like it would be good, but often means money was left on the table. Companies going public this week have so far seen less of that volatility, in part because of a particular strategy letting in more individual investors from the beginning. I'm joined now by Corey Driebush, who covers capital markets for the Wall Street Journal. Corey, what went wrong with the IPO of companies like Circle, Figma and Bullish?

[Corey Driebush]

So on the outside it looks like, oh, this should have been a great ipo. The stocks were priced often above expectations and then they traded up the first day of trading. You say that sounds great, but the amount they traded up was so substantial that it actually you cross over from being great to being a negative pretty fast. Figma, for example, rose 250 50% when it went public in July. The whole point of an IPO is you're picking and oftentimes hand selecting the exact fund managers you want to own shares of your company for the long term. And when a stock triples on its first day of trading or more, those fund managers have a fiduciary duty to their investor base to sell the stock and lock in some of those gains. So then you're losing out on these long term investors and you don't even know who owns your stock anymore this.

[Alex Osola]

Week we've seen a few different companies make their stock market debut. We've seen Buy Now, Pay later company Klarna Blockchain, Lender Figure Technology and of course today crypto exchange Gemini Space Station is making its stock market debut. How did these companies approach their IPO differently than Circle, Figma, Bullish?

[Corey Driebush]

We heard that Klarna was selling more shares than Twitter traditional to retail investors in the ipo. We also our reporting showed that Gemini the plan was to sell about up to 30% of shares of the IPO to retail investors, which is a huge number when you think that usually between around 5 to 7% go to retail investors Figure also we've been told sold more than Traditional to retail investors in its IPO.

[Alex Osola]

Is there anything else that's making these IPOs pop a little bit less this week? Yeah.

[Corey Driebush]

People close to these deals have pointed out that remember when we spoke about how Figma, Circle and Bullish all soared in their stock market debuts? Well, those three companies stocks have really come down a bunch since then and that has in many ways potentially lessened the exuberance of maybe for buying at the open by retail investors.

[Alex Osola]

That was WSJ reporter Cory Driebush. Coming up, the biggest buyer of America's tens of millions of tons of soybeans isn't buying any. We'll get into why after the break.

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[Alex Osola]

In just a few weeks, US farmers will begin harvesting tens of millions of tons of soybeans. But they have a big problem on their hands. The world's biggest buyer doesn't want any. Over the years, China has become one of the biggest buyers of American agricultural products, including soybeans. But now soy has emerged as a potent weapon that Beijing is wielding in its trade fight with Washington. Patrick Thomas covers agriculture for the Journal and is here now with more. Patrick, what's going on? Why isn't China buying any US Soy?

[Patrick Thomas]

The upshot is this is in retaliation for the trade war. This is China's tool to get back at the US and at the US Farmer. The farmer is basically caught in the middle of the trade war between Washington and Beijing and about a quarter of all American soybeans Historically have ended up going to China. So what China can do is not take those imports. And that leaves a ton of soybeans just left in the market stuck in U.S. storage. And that pressures the price. It hurts the farmer's income, and that gets right at their pocketbook for China.

[Alex Osola]

If they aren't getting Soybeans from the U.S. where are they getting it?

[Patrick Thomas]

They've tried to produce more soybeans in China. That's been a tall task for them over the years. So basically, they're trying to cut the US out with rivals in South America. They have been turning to Brazil. And this was something that really started to happen under Trump 1.0 in his first administration. The first time we had a trade war with the US And China. They built up infrastructure in Brazil, investments in their supply chain, and basically, Brazil last year provided 70% of China's soy imports, which is double the share from about 15 years ago.

[Alex Osola]

You mentioned that this puts us farmers in the middle. What are they doing about it?

[Patrick Thomas]

We've built our farm industrial complex around soybeans in the last 20 years and shipping it out of the Pacific Northwest ports. So all that to say is there's a lot of money riding on the success of soybeans. So what farmers can do is they're cutting back on equipment, they're cutting back just on general purchases. They're trying to switch more acres to corn. But by and large, there's not a ton that farmers can do except hope that they come to a resolution.

[Alex Osola]

Today, U.S. treasury Secretary Scott Besant is leaving for Europe, where he will continue trade negotiations with the Chinese. Is there hope for a resolution there?

[Patrick Thomas]

The clock is really ticking. We are weeks away. Some harvests have started, and it's already been a tough year for the farm economy. So really, there's a lot of pressure for something to happen here in the next couple weeks. I had one CEO of one of the big farm companies tell me a couple months ago October is the key date, because if we're still having this spat with China come October, that's when things could really hit the fan.

[Alex Osola]

That was WSJ reporter Patrick Thomas. Thanks, Patrick.

[Patrick Thomas]

Thanks so much for having me.

[Alex Osola]

As Patrick said, Many U.S. farmers are switching more acres to corn, and they're expected to be flush with the crop this year. The Agriculture Department raised its outlook for how much corn will be produced by US farmers this year to 16.81 billion bushels of corn. That's well above the 2023 record high of 15.34 billion bushels and economists expectations. In its report, the USDA attributed the higher production to an increase in the amount of corn acres expected to be harvested this year. And we're exclusively reporting that Kirk Perry, the interim CEO of Tylenol maker Kenview, had a private meeting with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. This week to dissuade the health secretary from including the over the counter medication as a potential cause in a coming report about the causes of autism. That's according to a person familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Kennedy plans to cite the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, by pregnant women as a potential cause of autism in their children, among other potential causes. An HHS spokesman said the department is using gold standard science to explain explore rising autism rates and until the report is released, any claims about its contents are speculation. In a statement, Ken View said that it is engaged in a scientific exchange with Kennedy and members of his staff and that it maintains that acetaminophen does not cause autism. And one final note. This morning's episode of what's News incorrectly said Vice President J.D. vance would be traveling to Utah today to meet with Charlie Kirk's family. In fact, Vance went to Utah yesterday. And that's what's News for this week. Tomorrow you can look out for our weekly markets. Wrap up what's News in Markets and we'll be back with our regular show on Monday morning. Today's show was produced by Pierre Bienname and Rodney Davis with supervising producer Michael Cosmides. Michael Lavall wrote our theme music, Aisha El Musleam is our development producer, Chris Insinsley is our deputy editor and Falana Patterson is the Wall Street Journal's head of news Audio. I'm Alex Osola. Thanks for listening.