Now Reading: Alphabet’s $900 million SpaceX bet now worth $94 billion
-
01
Alphabet’s $900 million SpaceX bet now worth $94 billion
Alphabet has disclosed a SpaceX stake worth about $94 billion at end-June, a 100-fold return on its $900 million investment in Elon Musk's rocket company in 2015. The Google parent held 551.2…
The Story in Brief
Alphabet has disclosed a SpaceX stake worth about $94 billion at end-June, a 100-fold return on its $900 million investment in Elon Musk's rocket company in 2015. The Google parent held 551.2 million shares of SpaceX after its $86 billion IPO in June, making it the largest single institutional holder, a Reuters analysis of quarterly filings shows.
Other early backers including Fidelity Investments, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Hancock Prospecting also revealed their holdings. Five largest reported investors accounted for nearly three-quarters of disclosed shares. SpaceX stock closed at $141.29 on Thursday, down 17.3% from end-June levels but still 4.7% above its IPO price.
The Indian Opinion
The 100x return story on Alphabet's SpaceX gamble is impressive but risks oversimplifying the lottery-like nature of early-stage tech investing. Most startup bets fail. The narrative also glosses over the concentration of institutional ownership, five funds hold three-fourths of reported shares, and the fact that Alphabet's paper gain has already shrunk from $94 billion to $78 billion at current prices. The real test will come when lockup periods expire: watch whether insiders dump shares or hold, which will reveal how much confidence they have at these valuations.
Sources (3): livemint.com, economictimes.indiatimes.com, livemint.com (2)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
