Who Benefits Most from SpaceX’s IPO? Primarily Elon and a Chosen Few from His Inner Circle

While SpaceX’s S-1 filing unveils several unexpected details as it gears up for its IPO, Elon Musk’s strong grip on the company isn’t shocking.

One of the most remarkable elements is a specific clause allowing Elon Musk to obtain up to an extra billion shares once a million people inhabit Mars (yes, that’s accurate). This does sound quite implausible, and Musk presently possesses the voting power for those shares.

However, even an additional billion super-voting shares are minimal given the company’s current structure since Musk is, by a considerable margin, the largest stakeholder.

He owns just under 850 million Class A shares with 1 vote each, plus nearly 5.6 billion Class B shares, which provide him with 10 votes per share. This total also includes the potential billion shares linked to the Mars scenario.

Ignoring the sci-fi conditions, a small group of individuals stands to benefit the most if the SpaceX IPO is successful and if its stock performs well in the future: the 5% shareholders. These holders own at least 5% of the company.

The company has yet to indicate the number of shares for sale or their prices, but industry speculations suggest this IPO could yield a mind-blowing $75 billion, pushing its post-money valuation to around $1.7 trillion. In such a case, even a 1% ownership stake would be valued at $17 billion.

Here’s the overview of shareholder ownership:

Elon Musk, founder, CEO, CTO, and chairman. Total SpaceX stock holdings: slightly over 6.42 billion shares.

Antonio Gracias, investor and board member. Total SpaceX stock holdings: a bit over 503.4 million shares.

Gracias is the founder and CEO of Valor Management and a long-standing associate of Musk. He has been a supportive board member, previously serving on Tesla’s board since its launch and also on Musk’s solar company, SolarCity, during its contentious merger with Tesla. He has backed Musk’s projects, including Neuralink and The Boring Company, and was among the financiers of Musk’s failed $97 billion hostile bid for OpenAI in early 2025.

Luke Nosek, investor and board member. Total SpaceX stock holdings: nearly 33 million shares.

Nosek is a co-founder of the venture capital firm Gigafund and a member of the PayPal mafia. He collaborated with Peter Thiel at Founders Fund during its inception, leading their initial investment in SpaceX. He has remained on the board since then. Gigafund also supports Musk’s other ventures, The Boring Company and Neuralink.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX COO. Total SpaceX stock holdings: nearly 12.6 million shares.

Shotwell has been pivotal to SpaceX since 2002, becoming COO in 2008. As a highly talented aerospace engineer, she oversees daily operations. In another scenario with a different majority founder, Shotwell might have been recognized as a co-founder with a larger shareholding. However, her compensation is noteworthy; for instance, she received a substantial amount of restricted stock units in 2025, with her total earnings reaching $85.8 million that year.

Bret Johnsen, CFO. Total SpaceX stock holdings: nearly 9.6 million shares.

Bret Johnsen has been the CFO of SpaceX since 2011. Before joining the company, he held CFO and finance roles in the semiconductor industry.

Ira Ehrenpreis, investor and board member. Total SpaceX stock holdings: 809,050 shares.

Ehrenpreis is a founder and managing member of the VC firm DBL Partners. He has sat on SpaceX’s board since February 2026 and is also a member of Tesla’s board.

Randy Glein, investor and board member. Total SpaceX stock holdings: 277,800 shares.

Glein is the co-founder and managing partner of DFJ Growth.

Plus around 400 other VCs. SpaceX has raised about $30 billion in private capital from numerous investors, according to Pitchbook estimates. None of these other investors possess large enough stakes to be disclosed, but even small shareholdings could lead to substantial value at the IPO.

However, the company has shared the prices investors paid for their shares. Series A investors purchased shares at $1 each, while Series F investors paid $7.50, and the final Series N investors paid $270 per share.