Class A, Class B, Class C — what each one buys.
Class A, Class B and Class C shares are different classes of the same company's common stock. In the most common arrangement they carry identical economic rights — the same claim on dividends and on assets — but very different voting rights: one vote per share for Class A, ten votes per share for insider-held Class B, and often no votes at all for Class C. The labels are not defined by law. Each company writes its own definitions into its charter, which is why the only reliable answer to "which shares have voting rights" is the one in the filing. This page explains the standard patterns, then shows exactly how SpaceX structured SPCX.
Class A vs Class B vs Class C at a glance.
| Feature | Class A | Class B | Class C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who holds it | The public | Founders, executives, early investors | The public |
| Votes per share | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Publicly traded | Yes | No | Yes |
| Dividend rights | Full, pro rata | Full, pro rata | Full, pro rata |
| Liquidation claim | Same as B and C | Same as A and C | Same as A and B |
| Converts? | No | Into Class A on sale, transfer, or death | No |
| Why it exists | To raise capital | To keep control with the founders | To issue stock without diluting votes |
Which shares have voting rights?
Every share class carries exactly the voting rights the company's certificate of incorporation gives it — no more, no less. The letters A, B and C are conventions, not categories with fixed meanings. That said, three patterns cover most of the market:
- Single class. One class of common stock, one vote per share, everyone equal. This is still the most common structure in the S&P 500 and the simplest to reason about.
- Dual class (A and B). Public Class A at one vote; insider Class B at ten votes. Founders keep board control while owning a minority of the economics. Meta and SpaceX both use this shape.
- Triple class (A, B and C). Adds a non-voting Class C so the company can print new shares for acquisitions and employee grants without eroding the founders' voting percentage. Alphabet is the canonical example.
Preferred stock is a separate question. Preferred shares usually carry no vote in ordinary business but sit ahead of common in the dividend and liquidation stack. If preferred dividends go unpaid for a stated number of periods, many series gain the right to elect directors — a contingent vote, not a standing one.
Where to look it up. For any U.S.-listed company, open the latest 10-K or IPO prospectus on SEC EDGAR and read the section titled Description of Capital Stock. It states the number of classes, the votes attached to each, the conversion triggers, and any protective provisions. It is two or three pages, and it settles the question definitively.
What is Class A common stock?
The public share
The control share
The non-voting share
So what is a "class shareholder"?
A class shareholder is an owner of one specific class of a company's stock — a Class A shareholder, a Class B shareholder, and so on. The term matters because corporate law treats classes separately. Certain charter amendments require a class vote: a majority of that class, voting on its own, must approve a change that adversely affects it. That protection is the reason a company cannot quietly rewrite the rights of a class it dislikes, even when it controls the overall vote.
The same letters, four different meanings.
| Company | Class A | Class B | Class C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet | GOOGL — 1 vote, public | 10 votes, insiders, not traded | GOOG — 0 votes, public |
| Meta | 1 vote, public | 10 votes, insiders, not traded | — |
| Snap | 0 votes, public (2017 IPO) | 1 vote | 10 votes, founders |
| Berkshire Hathaway | BRK.A — the original share | BRK.B — 1/1,500 of the economics, 1/10,000 of the vote | — |
| SpaceX | SPCX — 1 vote, public | 10 votes, Musk and insiders, not traded | — |
How SpaceX structured its share classes.
SpaceX went public in June 2026 with a two-class structure and no Class C. Class A is what trades on Nasdaq under SPCX at one vote per share. Class B is held by Elon Musk, Gwynne Shotwell and certain pre-IPO holders at ten votes per share, does not trade, and converts to Class A on transfer outside a permitted holder or on the founder's death or incapacity.
The consequence is the point of the structure: even after selling roughly $75 billion of Class A stock to the public — about 4.3% of the post-money equity — Class B holders retain a decisive majority of the voting power. A retail SPCX share is a claim on the economics, not on the direction of the company. That is disclosed plainly and repeatedly in the S-1.
The full stake-by-stake breakdown, including the principal stockholders table and the post-IPO voting math, is on our SpaceX ownership and cap table page. If you want the mechanics of the offering itself, see the SpaceX IPO date and price detail, and the S-1 summary for the filing in brief.
Mutual fund share classes are a different thing.
If you have seen "Class A shares" and "Class C shares" on a mutual fund fact sheet, those letters describe fee structures, not voting rights. They have nothing to do with corporate governance:
- Fund Class A — a front-end sales charge paid when you buy, with a lower ongoing expense ratio. Often breakpoint discounts at higher investment amounts.
- Fund Class B — historically a contingent deferred sales charge paid if you sold within a set number of years, declining to zero over time. Largely phased out.
- Fund Class C — a "level load": no front-end charge, but a higher ongoing annual expense, which makes it costlier the longer you hold.
Same letters, entirely separate system. If the document you are reading is a fund prospectus, it is fees. If it is a 10-K or an IPO prospectus, it is votes.