How Google’s parent Alphabet turned into the biggest profitable shareholder after SpaceX’s IPO

Alphabet’s decade-old gamble on Elon Musk’s space company has delivered a lucrative return, turning Google’s parent company into the largest institutional shareholder following SpaceX’s blockbuster initial public offering (IPO). Citing quarterly regulatory disclosures, news agency Reuters reports that Alphabet held a position valued at approximately $94.2 billion at the end of June. The valuation stems from an original $900 million investment made in SpaceX back in 2015 – representing a huge gain of more than 100 times its starting capital.

SpaceX completed an $86 billion public listing in June, providing the first clear public window into the enormous stakes accumulated by early institutional backers while the rocket and satellite company operated as a private startup.