2 weeks ago
Alphabet's $900 million SpaceX bet soars to $94 billion
Alphabet, the company that owns Google, gave SpaceX a lot of money a long time ago.
That money grew into an enormous pile of money.
SpaceX builds rockets and other space things.
In June, SpaceX sold shares to the public for the first time.
That made Alphabet's early investment worth much, much more.
Now it is worth about $94 billion.
SpaceX's founder, Elon Musk, still owns almost half of the company.
Many other big investors also made lots of money.
The value of the shares goes up and down every day.
But Alphabet's early bet turned out very well.
Alphabet's 2015 $900 million investment in SpaceX was worth about $94 billion at the end of June, a more-than-100-fold gain.
Alphabet is the largest single institutional holder of SpaceX, holding 551.2 million shares worth $94.2 billion at SpaceX's June 30 share price of $170.86.
Fidelity Investments was the second-largest reported institutional holder with 302.6 million shares.
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund disclosed a 154.1 million-share position worth $26.3 billion at the end of June.
SpaceX went public on June 12 at $135 a share and closed at $141.29 on Thursday, 4.7% above its IPO price but 17.3% below its June 30 close.
- Who
- Alphabet, Google's parent company, along with other large investors including Fidelity Investments, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Hancock Prospecting, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
- What
- Quarterly filings disclosed institutional SpaceX holdings after its IPO, revealing Alphabet's $900 million 2015 investment is now worth about $94 billion.
- Where
- United States, where SpaceX shares are publicly traded and institutional holdings were disclosed through SEC filings.
- When
- As of the end of June, following SpaceX's initial public offering on June 12; the filings were made public within six weeks of quarter-end.
- Why
- SpaceX's transition from a closely held startup to a publicly traded company revealed how dramatically early investments, especially Alphabet's, have grown in value.
Key facts
- Alphabet's 2015 investment
- $900 million
- Alphabet stake value (June 30)
- About $94.2 billion
- Alphabet shares held
- 551.2 million
- June 30 share price
- $170.86
- IPO date and price
- June 12 at $135 per share
- Thursday closing price
- $141.29
- Elon Musk's stake
- 48.4%
- Second-largest holder
- Fidelity Investments (302.6 million shares)
Quotes
Steve Sosnick
Market strategist at Interactive Brokers
“"SpaceX remains one of the most actively traded stocks among customers at Interactive Brokers, receiving a "fresh jolt of buying last week when market fears about what would happen when the first lockup expiry arrived proved to be unfounded."”
livemint.com
“"It's very, very difficult to tease out which of these institutions were holding pre-IPO shares"”
livemint.com






