AMERICAN STOCK indices(指数（复数）)’ record highs mask a niggle(小烦恼；细微问题): getting firms to list is getting harder. The number of initial public offerings (IPOs) fell from an annual average of over 400 in the 1990s to 115 in the past decade. This plus attrition(自然减少；损耗) and more firms going private has reduced the ranks of public companies in America from a peak of 8,000 in 1996 to 3,900 last year. Jamie Dimon, boss of JPMorgan Chase and Wall Street wise man(杰米·戴蒙（1956年出生）是摩根大通（...), would like to see 15,000 or more. If companies steer clear of(避开；绕开) public markets, as so many now choose to, ordinary investors miss out on(错过（好处）) their dynamism.
美国股指创纪录新高掩盖了一个小烦恼：让公司上市越来越难。首次公开募股（IPO）数量从20世纪90年代年均超过400宗，下降到过去十年的115宗。再加上公司被淘汰以及更多企业选择私有化，美国上市公司数量从1996年的8000家峰值，降至去年的3900家。摩根大通首席执行官、华尔街智者杰米·戴蒙希望看到15000家甚至更多。如果公司像如今这么多家一样选择避开公开市场，普通投资者就会错过它们的活力。
Could the imminent listings by some of the world’s buzziest(最热门的；最受关注的) firms provide a fix(提供解决方案)? SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket-to-server-racks conglomerate(大型联合企业；企业集团), has just filed the paperwork to raise perhaps $75bn in June. OpenAI and Anthropic, two leading AI labs, are preparing the ground for their own mammoth(巨大的；庞大的) flotations. Before long all three will enter stockmarket indices and, thanks to(多亏；由于) tracker funds, the stock portfolios of the investing everyman. Yet for all the excitement it is generating, the coming IPO bonanza is not a solution to stockmarket shrinkage. It is a symptom of the malaise.(然而，尽管它带来的兴奋感十足，即将到来的IPO盛宴并非股市萎缩的解决方案，而是问题本身的症状。)
全球一些最热门公司即将上市，能解决问题吗？埃隆·马斯克的巨无霸企业SpaceX（业务从火箭到服务器机架）刚刚提交文件，计划在6月筹资约750亿美元。OpenAI和Anthropic两家领先的AI实验室正在为它们自己的大规模上市做准备。不久之后，这三家公司都将进入股市指数，并借助追踪基金进入普通投资者的股票组合。然而，尽管即将到来的IPO盛宴令人兴奋，但它并非股市萎缩的解决方案，而是问题本身的表现。
Consider just how unusual the giga-trio(三巨头（巨大型）) are. Although many firms claim to be at the forefront of(处于……的最前沿) the AI revolution, the stockmarket’s propellent(推动力；推进剂) these days, Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX can say it with a straight face(可以面不改色地说). As a result, no other potential IPO comes close in terms of(在……方面接近) size. They are eye(关注；觊觎)ing a combined market capitalisation near $4trn. Their latest private valuations already make them the eighth-, 14th- and 15th-largest firms in America by value. The next three biggest startups—Databricks (in analytics), Stripe (digital payments) and Anduril (military drones)(① Databricks：基于Apach...)—are together worth less than $400bn.
想想这三巨头是多么不同寻常。尽管许多公司声称处于AI革命（当前股市的推动力）的前沿，但Anthropic、OpenAI和SpaceX可以面不改色地这么说。因此，其他潜在的IPO在规模上都无法与之匹敌。它们的目标市值合计接近4万亿美元。它们最新的私募估值已经使它们成为美国按价值排名的第8、第14和第15大公司。接下来三家最大的初创公司——Databricks（分析领域）、Stripe（数字支付）和Anduril（军用无人机）——加在一起价值不到4000亿美元。