Elon Musk owned a 48.4% stake in SpaceX as of June 30, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday, placing the value of his holding at over $900 billion at current market prices.
The filing breaks down the position and the concentration of control. Musk possesses 6.42 billion shares in total and has sole voting and dispositive authority over those shares. Since the company’s public listing, he has held in excess of 82% of SpaceX’s voting power, underscoring his dominant influence over corporate decision-making.
The composition of the stake is set out in the filing: 849.5 million Class A shares are held in trusts where Musk serves as trustee, alongside 3.92 billion Class B shares held by the same trusts. In addition, the filing reports 1.30 billion restricted Class B shares personally held by Musk and 350 million Class B shares issuable upon exercise of options.
SpaceX completed a record-setting initial public offering on June 12 that raised $85.7 billion and pushed the company’s market capitalization beyond $2 trillion. Market enthusiasm has moderated since then, and the stock’s valuation has retraced from earlier highs.
After a decline of nearly 33% through the end of July, SpaceX shares have rebounded, climbing 30% so far in August. The rally followed the release of the company’s first quarterly earnings report as a public company and coincided with the expiration of the first tranche of lockup restrictions on shares.
In its first quarterly report since listing, SpaceX disclosed revenue growth of more than 90% and a sharply higher level of capital expenditures, described in the filing as an exponential increase in capex. Those results and the lockup expirations were cited in the filing as contextual factors around recent trading moves.
Key points
- Musk held 48.4% of SpaceX as of June 30, valued at more than $900 billion at current market prices.
- The position consists of multiple share classes and option-linked issuable shares, with Musk exercising sole voting and dispositive power over 6.42 billion shares and controlling over 82% of voting power since the IPO.
- Market action has been volatile since the June 12 IPO that raised $85.7 billion and pushed the company’s market cap past $2 trillion; shares fell nearly 33% by end-July then rose about 30% in August following quarterly results and lockup expirations.
Risks and uncertainties
- Concentrated voting control - Musk’s more than 82% voting power centralizes corporate governance choices and could affect strategic direction, relevant to shareholders and corporate governance observers.
- Market volatility - The stock’s sharp declines and subsequent rebound highlight near-term valuation swings that impact investors and market participants in equity and derivative markets.
- Capital spending trajectory - The company reported an exponential increase in capital expenditures; the scale and timing of such spending could influence future cash flow dynamics and investor expectations.
All figures and descriptions above reflect the contents of the regulatory filing and the company’s reported quarterly results. The filing provides a detailed breakdown of Musk’s shareholdings and voting authority, and the market movements noted relate to the period following the company’s IPO and the release of its first public quarterly report.