Forget IPOs — Chamath Says Secondary Market Is Where He Buys And Sells

When it comes to investing in some of the largest private companies in the world, investor Chamath Palihapitiya has a method that has helped him get rid of losers and also buy into companies he may have missed.

Palihapitiya Highlights Secondary Markets

The year 2026 could be a big one for some of the largest privately held companies, with a likely SpaceX IPO among the largest offerings of all time, and reports that other large private companies could also look to go public.

When it comes to investing in private companies, most investments are limited to large companies, bankers, and billionaires. Some secondary markets offer investment options to retail investors, alongside institutional and accredited investors with a certain amount of capital.

Among the people who utilize secondary markets is investor Palihapitiya, best known to many as the guy who brought several companies public via SPAC mergers.

"If returns are what you're after (me), secondary markets are the most effective way I've found to correct investment mistakes of the past," Palihapitiya tweeted. "I've sold dogs, I've bought winners I missed."

Palihapitiya shared a tweet from Turner Novak that had the top 30 most in-demand startup secondary shares for the first quarter of 2026, based on data from Setter Capital.

"Am an investor in 3 of the top 7. Bought secondaries in 2 of the others."

The investor didn't name all of the companies he had invested in from the list, but answered "yes" to Novak who guessed SpaceX, Anduril and Polymarket, likely referencing which of the top seven companies he has stakes in.

Of the other two investments, Palihapitiya said one he doesn't know very well and one needs to reinvent in a "post-AI world."

Some of the companies Palihapitiya has invested in will likely go public and give investors opportunities to invest alongside the one-time “SPAC King.” Investors may also look to secondary share offerings as a way to invest in companies years before they IPO.

The Most In-Demand Secondary Shares

Of the 30 companies shared by Novak, here are the top 10 for the first quarter of 2026 and their ranking in the fourth quarter of 2025.

  1. Anthropic (2)
  2. SpaceX (1)
  3. Anduril (4)
  4. Stripe (5)
  5. OpenAI (3)
  6. Databricks (6)
  7. Polymarket (15)
  8. Revolut (12)
  9. ElevenLabs (Not in Top 30)
  10. Neuralink (13)

Novak said five of the top six companies are IPO candidates over the next 12-19 months.

"They've been absorbing a lot of investor interest and capital over the past few quarters," Novak said. "It will be interesting to see what happens as they list."

Ranking just outside the top 10 was prediction market company Kalshi, which moved up from 24th place. Both Polymarket and Kalshi are among the "fastest risers," Novak said.

Read Also: Bezos Just Reshaped The Space Market — Now He's Going Atomic With X‑Energy's IPO

Image via Shutterstock

This page is machine-translated. Sahm tries to improve but does not guarantee the accuracy and reliability of the translation, and will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by any inaccuracy or omission of the translation. *Disclaimer: The above content only represents the author's personal position and opinion and does not represent any position of Sahm Capital Financial Company and Sahm cannot confirm the authenticity, accuracy, and originality of the above content. Investors should consider the risks of investment products in light of their circumstances before making any investment decisions. When necessary, please consult a professional investment advisor. Sahm does not provide any investment advice, nor does it make any commitments and guarantees.