Alphabet’s investment in SpaceX has skyrocketed over 100 times, reaching a valuation of $94 billion
Alphabet’s initial $900 million investment in SpaceX has significantly increased in value, with its stake currently estimated at $94 billion.
Alphabet’s initial investment in SpaceX has skyrocketed over 100 times, with the Google parent revealing a stake valued at approximately $94.2 billion as of the end of June.
In 2015, Alphabet made a significant investment of $900 million in Elon Musk’s rocket company, providing a unique reference point for assessing the remarkable rise in value of an early SpaceX investment.
Alphabet’s most recent filing indicates that the company possessed 551.2 million SpaceX shares by the conclusion of the second quarter. As of June 30, SpaceX’s closing price was $170.86, making the stake valued at around $94.2 billion.
At SpaceX’s Thursday closing price of $141.29, Alphabet’s disclosed holding would be valued at approximately $77.9 billion—still around 86.5 times its initial investment.
Alphabet has become the largest reported institutional shareholder of SpaceX after the company’s $86 billion initial public offering in June, as indicated by a Reuters analysis of the quarterly regulatory filings that have been made public to date.
Fidelity Investments held the position of the second-largest institutional holder, owning 302.6 million SpaceX shares. Following them were Gigafund Management with 171.8 million shares, Baillie Gifford with 51.4 million shares, and BlackRock with 51 million shares.
Together, the five largest reported holders represented almost three-quarters of the SpaceX shares revealed in the filings, underscoring the concentration of institutional ownership within a limited group of investors.
SpaceX made its public debut on June 12, with shares priced at $135 each. Its stock has since declined from its end-June level, closing at $141.29 on Thursday, which is 4.7% above its IPO price but 17.3% below its June 30 close.
The quarterly filings offer fresh perspectives on the magnitude of investments possessed by SpaceX’s supporters as the company evolved from a privately held startup to a publicly traded entity.
Nonetheless, the data presents certain limitations. The Securities and Exchange Commission compiles 13F filings on a quarterly basis and discloses them within six weeks after the end of each quarter. This means they do not account for any purchases or sales executed by large institutional investors after June 30.
The filings do not indicate the lock-up status of investors or their intentions regarding the sale of shares acquired prior to the IPO.
“It’s quite challenging to determine which of these institutions were in possession of pre-IPO shares,” stated Steve Sosnick, market strategist at Interactive Brokers.
Sosnick noted that SpaceX continued to be one of the most actively traded stocks among Interactive Brokers customers, as the shares experienced a resurgence in buying interest following the absence of concerns regarding the first lock-up expiry.
According to Vanda Research, retail investors, who do not have to disclose their SpaceX holdings to the SEC, became net sellers of the stock on Friday for the first time since the IPO.
The research firm that monitors self-directed individual investors reported that retail investors sold a net total of $4.5 million in SpaceX shares on that day.
SpaceX shares experienced a 3% decline on Thursday, yet they have risen approximately 30% since August 5, highlighting the stock’s significant volatility since its market introduction.
