SpaceX investment pays off

Did you know that Google has a stake in SpaceX? This investment added rocket fuel to the quarterly numbers. Hidden in the fine print was an $8 billion boost from an early, long-forgotten bet on SpaceX.

Back in 2015 SpaceX was a more hopeful startup than what it is today. Google and Fidelity ploughed a combined $1 billion into the company for a roughly 10% stake. Fast forward to December 2024, SpaceX has a jaw-dropping $350 billion valuation, making it the world's second-most-valuable private company behind TikTok's parent, ByteDance.

Google's share of the 2015 SpaceX investment (about half the $1 billion) could now be worth around $17.5 billion, almost 35x the original investment. That's nearly the market cap of companies like Goldfields or T Rowe Price, from what was basically a "non-core" side hustle.

SpaceX itself isn't slowing down. The company is generating around $9 billion in annual revenue, with Starlink and commercial launches doing the heavy lifting. They are aiming to hit $15 billion revenue by next year, and rumours are swirling about a potential Starlink IPO by late 2025 or 2026.

In March, SpaceX notched its 300th successful orbital launch, a record that cements its dominance in the commercial and government space race.