Key Takeaways
- • SpaceX is heading for an IPO at a valuation of about $1.8 trillion, with the offering expected to raise $75 billion, making it the largest IPO of all time according to the report.
- • Founders Fund, led by Peter Thiel, invested roughly $600 million over nearly two decades for a stake of about 3%, now worth more than $50 billion at the $135 IPO price, per Bloomberg.
- • Valor Equity Partners, founded by Antonio Gracias, owns roughly 4% of SpaceX according to IPO filings, a stake worth nearly $70 billion at the IPO valuation.
- • Ron Baron has invested about $2 billion in SpaceX since 2017, a position now valued at roughly $12 billion, while SpaceX represented 33% of the $10.4 billion Baron Partners Fund as of March.
- • Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz's combined exposure could reach about $10 billion if SpaceX's expected $60 billion acquisition of Cursor proceeds, according to Bloomberg.
Summary
SpaceX, formally Space Exploration Technologies, is expected to begin trading on Friday following an IPO at a valuation of about $1.8 trillion. The offering is expected to raise $75 billion, which would make it the largest IPO on record. Early backers that quietly built stakes over nearly two decades are positioned for some of the largest venture capital gains ever recorded, including venture firms, hedge funds, Fidelity Investments, and pension funds and university endowments.
Founders Fund, the venture firm led by Peter Thiel, invested about $600 million across multiple funding rounds and built a stake of roughly 3%. At the $135 per-share IPO price, according to Bloomberg, that holding exceeds $50 billion. Valor Equity Partners, founded by Antonio Gracias, owns roughly 4% of the company according to SpaceX's IPO filings, a stake valued at nearly $70 billion at the IPO valuation. Andreessen Horowitz's SpaceX investment is reportedly worth more than $10 billion, per a person familiar with the matter, which would be the largest return in the firm's history. Sequoia Capital, which made its first investment at the end of 2019, owns about 1.5%, a stake worth more than $20 billion on roughly $2 billion invested, including $800 million put into X (formerly Twitter).
DFJ Growth has invested more than $800 million and owns at least 2% of the company, a stake worth at least $35 billion according to a Bloomberg analysis. 137 Ventures owns about 1%.
Ron Baron first invested in 2017 through employee share sales, when SpaceX was valued at under $22 billion, and has participated in 27 funding rounds. His roughly $2 billion investment has grown to about $12 billion. As of the end of March, SpaceX made up 33% of the $10.4 billion Baron Partners Fund and 25.5% of the Baron Asset Fund. Fidelity Investments, which began buying in 2015 through former portfolio manager Gavin Baker when SpaceX was valued near $10 billion, held SpaceX at 4.7% of the $177 billion Fidelity Contrafund as of March 31, according to CNBC, along with 3.3% of the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund and 2.6% of the Fidelity Growth Company Fund.
Thrive Capital, which invested when SpaceX was valued at $38 billion, and Andreessen Horowitz are also major investors in Cursor, an AI coding startup that SpaceX is expected to acquire for $60 billion later this year. If that deal closes, Thrive's combined exposure could be worth about $10 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Founders Fund, the venture firm led by Peter Thiel, invested about $600 million across multiple funding rounds and built a stake of roughly 3%. At the $135 per-share IPO price, according to Bloomberg, that holding exceeds $50 billion. Valor Equity Partners, founded by Antonio Gracias, owns roughly 4% of the company according to SpaceX's IPO filings, a stake valued at nearly $70 billion at the IPO valuation. Andreessen Horowitz's SpaceX investment is reportedly worth more than $10 billion, per a person familiar with the matter, which would be the largest return in the firm's history. Sequoia Capital, which made its first investment at the end of 2019, owns about 1.5%, a stake worth more than $20 billion on roughly $2 billion invested, including $800 million put into X (formerly Twitter).
DFJ Growth has invested more than $800 million and owns at least 2% of the company, a stake worth at least $35 billion according to a Bloomberg analysis. 137 Ventures owns about 1%.
Ron Baron first invested in 2017 through employee share sales, when SpaceX was valued at under $22 billion, and has participated in 27 funding rounds. His roughly $2 billion investment has grown to about $12 billion. As of the end of March, SpaceX made up 33% of the $10.4 billion Baron Partners Fund and 25.5% of the Baron Asset Fund. Fidelity Investments, which began buying in 2015 through former portfolio manager Gavin Baker when SpaceX was valued near $10 billion, held SpaceX at 4.7% of the $177 billion Fidelity Contrafund as of March 31, according to CNBC, along with 3.3% of the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund and 2.6% of the Fidelity Growth Company Fund.
Thrive Capital, which invested when SpaceX was valued at $38 billion, and Andreessen Horowitz are also major investors in Cursor, an AI coding startup that SpaceX is expected to acquire for $60 billion later this year. If that deal closes, Thrive's combined exposure could be worth about $10 billion, according to Bloomberg.
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