Anthropic · SpaceX · Anduril · SEC · New York · Fortune Technology
Boiler room raised $74 million selling retirees SpaceX, Anduril, Anthropic, and Perplexity while reaping ‘large hidden fees,’
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A sales force of more than 100 agents allegedly cold-called thousands of prospective investors with sleek, scripted pitches for shares in the most exclusive private tech companies in the world, including SpaceX, Anduril, Anthropic, and Perplexity, while promising repeatedly there would be no hidden fees.
Key facts
- Funds 10 and 11 held Perplexity AI, bought between $340.72 and $389 and sold at $495 for a markup between 27% and 45%
- Fund 2 held SpaceX, which Spaventa purchased for $595 and sold for $975
- The alleged boiler room raked in more than $74 million for 11 private funds run from offices on Long Island and New Jersey over the course of four and a half years from December 2020 to June 2025
- For example, the complaint states that Fund 8 held Anthropic, acquired at $32.62 to $41.53 per share and sold for $58.50, a 41% to 79% markup that raised $5.8 million in 2024
Summary
The agents worked for The Spaventa Group (TSG), a Long Island financial firm founded by Andrew Spaventa, a former broker who spent years selling pre-IPO investments before founding TSG in 2020. More than 800 people bought in. Despite the promise of no rip offs from “unnecessary fees,” investors paid on average 46% more for their positions than Spaventa’s own companies paid to get them, the SEC alleged in a complaint filed on Friday in the Southern District of New York. “Unsolicited calls and high-pressure sales tactics are the calling cards of so-called boiler room operators.