SEC Accuses Meyer Global of Defrauding Retail Investors in Pre-IPO SpaceX Funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged New York private fund adviser Meyer Global Management LLC and its CEO, Owen E.H. Meyer, alleging they defrauded retail investors in funds that held interests in SpaceX and other pre-IPO securities by misusing client money, inflating account statements and mishandling fund assets.

The SEC said it filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to the agency, Meyer Global and Meyer misused assets from client funds, sent statements that overstated account values to conceal misconduct, diverted portions of investor proceeds in one scheme involving three funds, and repeatedly failed to cure a capital-call deficiency tied to a SpaceX investment, causing an MGM-managed fund to forfeit its nearly $3 million stake.

The case centers on retail investors in private funds managed by Meyer Global, or MGM, that held interests in SpaceX and other closely held companies before they went public. The SEC said the alleged misconduct took place in “a series of schemes from at least December 2021 to the present.”

According to the complaint, MGM and Meyer violated their fiduciary duties — the legal obligation investment advisers owe to act in clients’ best interests — by misusing client fund assets and lying to underlying investors in the funds. The SEC alleges that in at least three schemes, the defendants misappropriated assets from certain MGM-managed funds to pay Meyer’s personal expenses.

In one alleged scheme, the SEC said the defendants sent investors account statements that inflated valuations to hide the misuse of money. In another, involving three MGM-managed funds, the agency alleges they misappropriated portions of investor proceeds and required investors to sign releases accepting distributions “less than they were owed” in order to receive any money.

The SEC also said the defendants repeatedly failed to address a capital-call deficiency owed by an MGM-managed fund for its SpaceX investment. As a result, the agency alleges, the fund forfeited its nearly $3 million investment.

The complaint charges violations of the antifraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the federal law that governs investment advisers. The SEC said it is seeking permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, civil penalties against both defendants, and a conduct-based injunction against Meyer.

The SEC’s announcement did not include a response from Meyer Global or Meyer.

The case lands at a time when pre-IPO access has become an especially potent selling point for smaller investors. SpaceX completed an IPO in mid-June 2026, likely heightening the appeal of funds that promised exposure before the listing. The SEC cast the case as a warning about the risks that can come with hard-to-access private-market deals marketed as exclusive opportunities.

“This case is a reminder that fraudsters can exploit the allure of exclusive, high-return pre-IPO access to take advantage of retail investors,” said Corey A. Schuster, chief of the Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit. “The defendants in this matter were investment advisers entrusted with acting as fiduciaries to their clients. Nevertheless, they allegedly engaged in multiple fraudulent acts to enrich themselves.”