BOSTON, July 26 — For most people, investing in SpaceX is about as realistic as booking a ticket on Starship. The company is private, and Elon Musk isn’t exactly running a crowdfunding campaign. But here’s what it means for ordinary investors: Fidelity Investments, the Boston-based mutual fund giant that manages trillions of dollars in retirement and brokerage accounts, has been quietly buying into SpaceX since 2015.
So if you have money in a Fidelity fund, there’s a decent chance some of it is riding on the next Starship launch. Fidelity is one of a handful of institutional investors that have participated in multiple SpaceX funding rounds over the past decade.
The company doesn’t disclose exactly how much it owns — SpaceX remains private, and detailed ownership percentages beyond the largest holders are not widely known. But Fidelity’s repeated participation signals something important: the firm sees long-term value in a company that, in plain terms, is building the infrastructure for space commerce in the same way that early internet investors bet on the backbone providers of the 1990s.
A Who’s Who of SpaceX Investors
The shareholder list reads like a directory of deep-pocketed, long-horizon capital. Think of it like a private club where the entry fee is measured in billions and patience is the only investment strategy that matters. The largest shareholder is Musk himself, who owns approximately 42% of the company.
That gives him effective control over strategic decisions, including the timeline for any potential initial public offering — which, as of late 2024, the company is not planning, though Musk has hinted at a possible Starlink IPO in the future. Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, now holds a 6% stake valued at $94.1 billion, according to a rare SEC filing that provides a glimpse into SpaceX’s ownership structure.
That stake is held by Alphabet’s parent holding company, a detail that matters for corporate governance and tax purposes, but the practical upshot is straightforward: Google has a significant financial interest in SpaceX’s success, particularly as Starlink expands into broadband and competes with terrestrial internet providers. Other notable institutional investors include Founders Fund, the venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel; Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ); and Valor Equity Partners. Baillie Gifford, a Scottish investment management firm, also holds a notable position.
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) invested in SpaceX through a secondary share purchase in 2022, though the exact stake is not publicly disclosed. In the most recent funding round in 2024, which valued the company at $180 billion, new investors included Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, two of the most prominent names in Silicon Valley venture capital.
What the Money Is For
SpaceX has raised over $6 billion in equity funding since its founding in 2002. That money doesn’t sit in a bank account — it’s been poured into the development of the Starship rocket, the expansion of the Starlink satellite constellation, and the fulfillment of NASA contracts worth over $4 billion. The diverse investor base reflects SpaceX’s perceived high growth potential, driven by these three pillars.
Starlink is already generating revenue from consumers and businesses in remote areas. Starship, if it succeeds, could dramatically lower the cost of launching payloads into orbit.
And NASA contracts provide a reliable, government-backed revenue stream that institutional investors tend to like. For Fidelity, the investment fits a pattern. The firm has been increasing its exposure to private companies in recent years, using its massive asset base to gain access to deals that are typically reserved for venture capital and sovereign wealth funds.
The practical upshot for someone with a Fidelity 401(k) is that their retirement savings may have indirect exposure to a company that is building a space-based internet network and a rocket designed to go to Mars.
What to Watch Next
SpaceX isn’t going public anytime soon, but the Starlink IPO that Musk has hinted at could change the math for smaller investors. If and when that happens, Fidelity’s existing stake in SpaceX could become even more valuable, and retail investors might finally get a chance to buy shares directly. Until then, the best bet for most people is to keep an eye on how funds like Fidelity’s allocate their private-market investments — because that’s where the growth is, even if you can’t buy it on the stock exchange.
