SpaceX Set to Launch History-Making IPO, Rewarding Early Backers

Global markets are braced for SpaceX’s giant public offering, after Elon Musk’s aerospace and AI company completed a $75 billion fundraise on Thursday at an estimated market value of about $1.8 trillion. That makes it the largest initial public offering in history, and one of the most highly anticipated listings ever.

The biggest winners are expected to include Ron Baron, CEO of Baron Capital, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest, and Fidelity Investments, with additional gains likely for Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz. Many of these investors built their positions years ago, long before SpaceX reached its current astronomical valuation.

Baron first invested in 2017 through employee tender offers, when SpaceX was worth less than $22 billion, and has since joined 27 funding rounds. By the end of March, SpaceX accounted for 33% of Baron Partners Fund, which manages $10.4 billion, and 25.5% of Baron Asset Fund. Baron told investors this week, “We believe SpaceX will become the largest, most profitable company on Earth.” He said Baron Capital has put in about $2 billion over the years, now worth roughly $12 billion.

Ark Invest’s SpaceX stake made up 11.4% of its assets under management, which topped $13 billion, as of March 31, making it the firm’s largest holding. Wood told CNBC that SpaceX is more than a launch provider, saying Starship, Starlink and the acquisition of xAI point to “an integrated vertical AI infrastructure for a much broader space economy,” and that an IPO would give long-term shareholders broader access to a company still early in its value creation.

Fidelity began buying shares in 2015, when SpaceX was valued at just $10 billion. As of March 31, SpaceX represented 4.7% of Fidelity Contrafund, which manages $177 billion and ranks among the world’s largest actively managed mutual funds. Greg Martin, co-founder and CEO of Rainmaker Securities, said the firms “took a risk with Elon, and it paid off beyond measure,” adding that their long-term cap table position became a rare asset because SpaceX is tightly controlled.