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July 12, 2026
 

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IPO

Human resources platform operator SmartHR had aimed for a valuation of about $1 billion and is working with banks including Daiwa Securities Group, Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2026
KKR-Backed SmartHR is said to delay Tokyo IPO beyond this year
Sources have said timing and valuation could change due to investors’ concerns over the disruptive impacts of the artificial intelligence boom on the software-as-a-service sector.
Carro, which is backed by SoftBank Group, is also considering a second listing in Singapore.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2026
SoftBank-backed car marketplace Carro is said to explore U.S. IPO
Carro is working with advisers and may potentially raise as much as $500 million.
Taxi-hailing app provider Go traded 21% above its IPO price on Tuesday after shareholders of the company raised ¥88.6 billion ($553 million) in the offering for a market value of ¥186 billion last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 16, 2026
Goldman-backed Go soars 21% after biggest Japan IPO this year
The successful debut of the taxi-hailing app provider offers a much-needed tailwind for Japan’s IPO market.
Investors across Asia are seeking out creative ways to make bets on SpaceX as its initial public offering launches Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 12, 2026
Locked out of IPO, Asia investors find new ways to bet on SpaceX
Japan and Australia are the only countries in Asia-Pacific where retail investors have direct access to the world’s largest-ever IPO.
SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket is launched from the company's Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, near Brownsville, Texas, in November 2023
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2026
Musk’s SpaceX prices record $75 billion IPO at $135 a share
The pricing caps off a monthslong effort that realized Elon Musk’s most ambitious project yet even ​as some analysts question whether its lofty valuation is justified.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the United States, on June 8.
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2026
Japan’s retail investor army flocks to SpaceX after IPO drought
SpaceX’s blockbuster IPO is drawing intense retail demand in Japan, where cash-rich households see a rare shot at a marquee global listing tied to Elon Musk and the space boom.
OpenAI, founded in San Francisco in 2015 as a nonprofit research lab, burst into the mainstream with the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022. It has since restructured as a for-profit corporation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2026
OpenAI makes move to go public one week after rival Anthropic
The company says it has “not decided on timing yet” for any potential debut.
Shareholders in Goldman Sachs Group-backed firm Go sold shares at ¥2,400 apiece, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2026
Goldman-backed Go prices Japan’s biggest 2026 IPO at upper end
Shareholders in the Goldman Sachs Group-backed firm sold shares at ¥2,400 apiece, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
Mega-IPO candidates including SpaceX are expected to face a long road to entry to the S&P 500 Index, after the company that makes the rules rejected a proposal that included relaxing the requirement that they be profitable.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Jun 7, 2026
SpaceX and other mega IPOs may wait years to join the S&P 500
S&P Dow Jones Indices’ index committee declined to remove a rule that companies generate positive net income for the past year.
Currency dealers last month at a bank in Seoul. Solar firm HD Hyundai Energy Solutions and nuclear play Daewoo Engineering & Construction are among the top stocks in South Korea’s world-beating market this year.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 2, 2026
SpaceX and OpenAI windfall fuels bets on next-wave Asian AI winners
Investors believe the billions of dollars that SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI are set to raise will kick off a fresh round of technology spending.
The SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Booster creates sound waves as it lifts off on its 12th test flight from the SpaceX launch complex in Starbase, Texas, on May 22.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
May 26, 2026
SpaceX debut draws a crowd, but few recent hot IPOs outpace the market
The space exploration company is expected to target ​a $1.75 trillion valuation, but an analysis shows there is ​no guarantee investors ‌will make money.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off on its 12th test flight at Starbase, Texas, on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 23, 2026
SpaceX’s Starship flight hits most targets in pre-IPO test
The outcome could boost investor confidence ahead of SpaceX’s initial public offering next month, expected to be the largest in history.
A SpaceX Super Heavy booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off on its 11th test flight at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas, on Oct.13, 2025.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2026
SpaceX IPO filing lays bare losses and Musk control as it stakes future on AI
Much of its outlook relies on SpaceX dominating technologies and markets that do not yet exist — from Mars missions to AI data centers in space.
GO, a taxi-hailing app operator backed by Goldman Sachs Group, is targeting a valuation of about ¥200 billion in an initial public offering that could raise up to ¥90 billion, with an announcement possible as early as next week and a listing aimed for mid-June.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2026
Goldman-backed Go app seeks $1.3 billion valuation in Tokyo IPO
The taxi-hailing app operator may announce the IPO as soon as next week and aims to list in mid-June.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, at the Viva Technology conference in Paris in June 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
May 7, 2026
SpaceX IPO gives Musk sweeping power and curbs shareholder rights
The rocket maker has adopted ⁠corporate governance policies that will erode typical shareholder protections in unprecedented ways.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks at a news conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2018.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 21, 2026
Musk’s SpaceX tries to woo Wall Street with analyst meetings this week, sources say
The company is looking to raise $75 billion, in what would be the world’s ​biggest-ever initial public offering, with executives targeting a late June trading debut.
Go runs the most widely used taxi hailing app in Japan in terms of user numbers, according to a survey in 2024 by ICT Research and Consulting.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2026
Goldman-backed Go taxi app said to plan Japan IPO this year
Discussions on the IPO are ongoing and details such as the target valuation and timing are subject to change.
Seven & I Holdings will delay a public listing of its U.S. convenience-store business planned for later this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 9, 2026
Seven & I delays U.S. unit IPO, saying revamp will take longer
The goal is to strengthen performance and maximize valuation before listing the unit in the current fiscal year, which lasts until February 2027.
SpaceX intends to earmark a large portion of shares for retail ​investors in its highly anticipated initial public offering planned for later this year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 7, 2026
SpaceX lays out IPO details, targets early June roadshow, sources say
SpaceX is rewriting the initial public offering playbook with a large portion of shares earmarked for retail investors.
SmartHR is working on a potential listing in Tokyo with a market capitalization target of about ¥160 billion, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 6, 2026
KKR-backed SmartHR said to be mulling Tokyo IPO later this year
The Japanese human resources platform operator is among the country’s few unicorns, or unlisted startups that have been valued at more than $1 billion.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.

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