What are dual-class shares?
A company with dual-class shares has two kinds of common stock that carry different numbers of votes. Usually one class trades on the exchange and the other stays with founders or insiders.
At Meta, Class A shares have one vote each and Class B shares have ten.[S4] SpaceX's prospectus describes the same split: one vote for Class A, ten for Class B.[S7]
"Multi-class" means more than two classes, sometimes with very different rights.
Why is it easy to misread?
Owning a slice of the company and controlling it are no longer the same thing. The percentage of shares and the percentage of votes can be far apart.
How far apart can ownership and votes be?
Meta's 10-Q cover lists 2,214,472,367 Class A and 341,768,886 Class B shares at Oct 16, 2026.[S5]
Class B is about 13.4% of all shares. With ten votes each, it carries about 60.7% of the votes (Cityfort calculation from the cover and the 10-K's votes per share).[S5][S4]
Meta's information statement gives the same picture for Mark Zuckerberg on Oct 1, 2026. He held about 60.6% of the voting power and about 13.4% of the economic interest.[S9]
SpaceX's prospectus says Elon Musk would hold about 82.4% of the voting power right after the June 2026 offering. That figure was 82.3% if the underwriters bought their extra shares in full.[S7]
Can votes be fixed regardless of shares?
Yes, in some structures. Anthropic's S-1, filed Oct 26, 2026, does not tie the founders' votes to a number of shares.[S8]
According to the S-1, a single Class F share, to be issued to the co-founders' Founder LLC just before the offering, will carry 50.1% of votes on general matters. It has no economic rights.[S8]
As a result, all Class A votes together would be capped at 49.9%.[S8] Class N shares have no vote except where law requires, but the same economic rights as Class A.[S8]
The S-1 also says the Long-Term Benefit Trust holds all the Class T stock. Through it, the trust can generally elect a majority of the board.[S8]
Where do you find the share classes in a filing?
The cover page. The 10-K and 10-Q covers list the number of shares outstanding for each class of common stock.[S10][S5]
"Description of capital stock". Regulation S-K Item 202 asks for each class's voting rights, dividend rights, conversion terms and transfer limits.[S1] An S-1 has this section. The 10-K repeats it in an exhibit for each class registered under the Exchange Act.[S2]
Risk factors. Meta's 10-K explains how Class B shares generally convert to Class A when transferred.[S4]
The proxy statement. Item 403 asks for every holder of more than 5% of any voting class. It also asks for management's holdings, class by class.[S3] Our guide on how to read a proxy statement shows the table.
What is a controlled company?
SpaceX's prospectus summarises Nasdaq's rule. A "controlled company" is one where a person or a group acting together holds more than 50% of the votes for electing directors.[S7]
Such a company may choose not to follow some Nasdaq governance rules. These include having a majority of independent directors and fully independent nominating and pay committees.[S7]
Meta's 10-K says it qualifies as a controlled company. So it is not required to have a majority-independent board, a compensation committee or an independent nominating function.[S4]
SpaceX said it intended to use certain of these exemptions after its offering.[S7] Anthropic's S-1 says it is a controlled company because the trust, as sole holder of Class T stock, can generally elect a majority of the board.[S8]
Can a company add a class later?
Yes. On Oct 21, 2026, Meta reported a new non-voting Class C stock. The board declared one Class C share as a dividend for each Class A and Class B share.[S6]
Meta said the restated charter would take effect on Jan 19, 2027, with the dividend paid after that.[S6] The information statement says Class C is meant for raising capital, employee pay and deals without diluting existing voting power.[S9]
How does Cityfort show share classes?
Each US stock page lists every share class in "Who owns it". It shows votes per share, who holds the class and its share of stock and votes.