Carl note: I offhandedly mentioned in a recent post that I had invested in SpaceX. I’m a super nerd and SpaceX sings to my engineer mind. Catching the largest flying thing ever made from a trip to space within a couple centimeters of accuracy is one of the greatest engineering achievements of humankind:
Anyway, after I mentioned my SpaceX investment, emails started rolling in. At least 50 people contacted me asking how I did this since SpaceX is a private company. I (think?) that I responded to y’all, but in case others are curious, this guest post is for you.
It was written by my friend Craig Stephens over at Access IPOs. I’ve known Craig for years and he’s a top human who I trust completely.
Finally, this post isn’t a recommendation or financial advice. An awesome company doesn’t mean the investment will be similarly awesome. Tread with caution and make up your own mind.
Ad Astra!
–carl
7 Ways to Invest in SpaceX
Carl famously invested in SpaceX, and now his readers keep asking him how they can invest in SpaceX, too.
Maybe he hasn’t shared all of his methods because he’s hoping to stay on the good side of you-know-who so he doesn’t get DOGE’d — if you know what I mean.
Or since Carl is more of a podcast guy now, he’s outsourced the writing job to me (for some reason, instead of Grok) — as someone who monitors the various ways to invest in SpaceX and other private companies.
I run the website Access IPOs, which is dedicated to helping ordinary investors find investment opportunities in the world’s most innovative and disruptive pre-IPO companies.
I monitor more than 200 private startups and upcoming IPOs on my website and recently launched a podcast on the topic.
SpaceX is among the most popular companies I follow.
Some of you may also know me as RBD from Retire Before Dad (here’s my 1500 Days 10-question interview from 2019).
This article will help you understand what it takes to invest in SpaceX.
Unfortunately, investing directly in SpaceX’s private stock is incredibly challenging. However, there are still multiple ways to gain investment exposure.
Carl invested through a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which technically isn’t a direct investment. It’s a legal entity that invested in SpaceX, and he owns part of that. Investment groups use SPVs to give more investors access, diversify the investment pool, and tidy the capitalization table.
SPV opportunities are fairly common, but aspiring SpaceX stock investors should expect high minimum investment amounts ($100,000+) and to pay a price premium over the fair market price (yes, there is a market price, we’ll get into that).
Those who can’t afford an investment of that size still have options via various funds and indirect investments. But the upside potential is limited.
But before we get into the ways to invest in SpaceX, here are a few words of caution.
Not Investment Advice
This article is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, fund, private company, security, SPV, or Fartcoin ( ㅅ ) 💨. This article is for informational purposes only.
Since SpaceX is a private company, the inherent risks are higher than those of a typical stock or ETF investment because it is not held to the same regulatory standards as public companies.
Investors are often not entitled to due diligence materials, so they must conduct research with what’s available in the public domain, which does not include financials.
Investing in any private company:
- is risky
- lacks transparency
- is challenging to get access
- is slightly less challenging for U.S. residents
- is slightly less challenging if you are accredited or qualified
- is substantially more challenging if you reside outside of the U.S.
- should only be done with money you can afford to lose
Perform personalized due diligence in the context of your financial situation before considering an investment in private companies.
With that all out of the way, here are seven ways to invest in SpaceX equity.
7 Ways to Invest in SpaceX
Most of the methods below are indirect ways to invest in SpaceX. These are the most accessible and pragmatic options for most investors.
Since many of you won’t qualify to buy shares directly (or via SPVs) due to the SEC’s accreditation standard, I’m providing multiple options with varying levels of risk and SpaceX investment exposure.
But even accredited investors will struggle to invest. You must be diligent and nimble if you’re dedicated to finding an investment opportunity.
The list below is not exhaustive. But it contains multiple opportunities I’ve seen where investors can invest in SpaceX or potential platforms where opportunities are most likely to become available.
There are undoubtedly more ways to invest. Add your favorites in the comments.
Here’s a summary list with details to follow.
- The ARK Venture Fund
- Pre-IPO Investing Platforms (10 possible options)
- Fidelity Mutual Funds
- Own Tesla Stock and Wait
- Buy Alphabet Stock
- AG Dillion (RIAs only)
- Traded ETFs (worst/dubious option)
1. The ARK Venture Fund
This first option is very accessible to many investors. But there are downsides.
All U.S. investors 18+ can invest in a venture capital fund that holds SpaceX. It is available to non-accredited investors (non-millionaires).
I own two such venture capital funds that offer non-accredited access to private companies, but only one of them has a stake in SpaceX.
That is the ARK Venture Fund, a non-traded, actively managed, closed-end interval fund, currently available only at SoFi Invest (an online broker/investing app) for a $500 minimum investment.
Non-traded means it doesn’t trade on an exchange like stocks or ETFs. You can only buy it through SoFi Invest. Since this fund doesn’t trade, the net asset value (NAV) is based on the estimated holdings values instead of the whims of traders. That is a good thing.
Actively managed means a portfolio manager or team actively selects the fund’s investments (like actively managed mutual funds). In this case, the fund manager is the famous investor Cathie Wood of ARK Invest.
Closed-end means it has a fixed number of shares that are not continuously issued like an open-end mutual fund. However, investors can typically buy shares directly from the fund at the current value or NAV.
Interval fund means investors can only redeem (sell back) their shares periodically. For this fund, redemptions are only allowed quarterly.
This structure allows the fund to invest in less liquid assets like private companies while providing some level of liquidity to investors on a scheduled basis.
The fund is only for long-term investors (five-year investment horizon or more), and liquidity may be limited beyond quarterly redemption.
Management must maintain filings with the SEC, adding a layer of investor protection.
As of February 28th, 2025, SpaceX makes up 15.88% of the fund.
Bonus: The fund holds many other exciting pre-IPO companies like Anthropic, Figure AI, Open AI, X Corp (Twitter), and xAI (Elon’s AI company).
That’s the cool part, now for the downsides.
Since this fund is non-traded, you can’t buy it with your current broker. The only way to buy it is to open an account with SoFi Invest where it is available.
Investors want to see more brokers offering access to the fund. Robinhood is the obvious choice. But for now, it’s only at SoFi Invest.
Furthermore, the net fees on this fund are 2.90% annually — that’s the cost of access. But you’ll find these fees far lower than some of the other options I’ll write about next.
I maintain an updated holdings table on my ARK Venture Fund review webpage with links to research on various companies in the fund. Check that out.
BTW: The second such venture capital fund available to non-accredited U.S. investors is the Fundrise Innovation Fund, which has similar account-opening requirements, slightly lower fees, a $10 minimum, and holds companies like OpenAI, Databricks, Anduril Ramp, and Canva.
2. Pre-IPO Investing Platforms
If you’re looking for the most direct way to gain investment exposure to SpaceX, pre-IPO investing platforms are your best bet.
Multiple pre-IPO platforms allow SpaceX employees, former employees, and other shareholders to sell shares to accredited investors. Each operates, charges fees, and structures deals differently.
These platforms also sometimes acquire large lots of SpaceX shares and break them into smaller chunks to sell to their customers.
Before I get into the various platforms I monitor, understand that you are not the only person or entity interested in investing in SpaceX.
When shares become available, they sell quickly and usually at a premium to fair value. Or, current shareholders may list shares at a ridiculous premium, hoping that someone overpays.
If you’re serious about investing, you must sign up for multiple accounts (no obligation; being accredited helps) and monitor availability. Then, set alerts for when shares of SpaceX become available.
When the opportunity arises, you’ll need fast access to cash and be ready to respond to the offer.
Keep in mind that “fair value” is somewhat relative in private investing. Private trade data is becoming more available, and several aggregators piece together private transactions to estimate a price.
When you invest in a private company, you should have access to an estimated valuation and share price, just as you would want to know a public company’s stock price or market cap. But this information isn’t available on Yahoo Finance or through your traditional online broker.
So, identify a reliable pre-IPO data resource to attain estimates of the current valuation and share price before moving forward (I primarily use Hiive, Forge Global, and Caplight).
Note: All screenshots are for illustrative purposes only as of March 6th, 2025.
Hiive
Hiive is a Vancouver-based startup that has built the closest thing I’ve seen to a pre-IPO marketplace. Users can buy or sell private shares, and prices fluctuate based on supply and demand.
Minimum investments typically start at around $25,000 but are often much higher.
Share sellers list their shares at a listing or “ask” price (often above fair value), and bidders offer to buy shares. Once the two parties are close to a share price agreement, they enter a private price negotiation and finalize the transaction terms while Hiive facilitates the exchange.
Below, you can see substantial demand for SpaceX shares (92 bids) and limited supply (5 listings).
Note that transactions are taking place at $226.31 per share, but another shareholder is trying to sell at $380 per share! That’s a 68% premium to the other person!
The estimated value on the same day is closer to $197 per share, according to a data aggregator I have access to called Caplight (as of March 6th, 2025). With a fast-growing company like this, there can be a lag.
On the same day, another aggregator I follow (Notice.co) estimated the share price to be $177 per share.
These aggregators collect data from multiple sources and estimate a fair price. The data is improving, even if it’s not a true market value like a publicly traded company.
So beware if you want to dabble in this kind of investing. $177 to $380 per share is a wide range. But $226 is where the buyers and sellers are transacting, so that’s where you would expect to play on March 6th (when you read this, prices will be different!).
The $226 per share equates to about a $427 billion valuation. That’s up from a December 2024 tender offer (internal company share sale where employees could cash out) that priced at $185 per share and valued the company at $350 billion.
The takeaway is that shares become available but usually sell at a premium, which drives up private share prices and valuations.
I like the Hiive platform because it is a marketplace, and investors have some control over the price they pay. Others do not.
Hiive members (it’s free to sign up and see the marketplace) may also be offered opportunities to invest in single investment funds.
Disclosure: I have an affiliate relationship with Hiive on my website, but I am not being compensated to mention it here. It’s the real deal.
Linqto
Linqto is another investing platform that offers pre-IPO access to dozens of companies. Their model is different from that of Hiive and other similar providers.
Instead of a marketplace, Linqto acquires shares of private companies, then slices up the total investment amount and sells shares to accredited individual investors on the platform.
This allows multiple investors to participate at lower minimum investments ($1,000 first investment, $2,500 second investment, $5,000 subsequent; minimums subject to change) and diversify across multiple companies and industries.
For example, when SpaceX was valued at about $250 billion, Linqto sold shares at a $350 billion valuation. That’s a 40% premium over fair value.
Shares sold out very quickly, and a few months later, SpaceX’s valuation hit $350 billion. But that will not always be the case. Private prices can fall, too.
Buying a private company at a substantial premium is highly risky, but that is the norm with SpaceX because of tremendous demand.
Extending your investment horizon over many years or decades may help mitigate the risk if SpaceX continues as a viable company.
So beware of limited availability and inflated valuations. You must open an account with Linqto and sign up for SpaceX alerts when shares become available.
I saw SpaceX availability once in 2024. Set up alerts to be aware of future availability.
EquityZen and Forge Global
EquityZen and Forge Global are the old guards of pre-IPO investing. They have consistently been in the top three platforms for the past few years.
Hiive is doing more volume now, according to its CEO. But the deal flow on EqutiyZen and Forge Global remains strong.
Both platforms provide access to pre-IPO shares of hundreds of startups, typically emailing users when shares of requested companies become available.
Once available, users must indicate interest and be ready to fork up money.
I saw a recent SpaceX opportunity for a $150,000 minimum investment on one of these platforms.
Both are legit, but you must be accredited. Expect to prove you are accredited and have the necessary wealth available to invest with quick turnarounds.
Others
More pre-IPO investing platforms are always emerging, so there is a good chance I’ve left some off this list.
Some may show the SpaceX logo on their websites and claim to have transacted shares in the past or are attempting to put together a fund for platform users.
But none of these platforms have plentiful, cheap, and low-minimum shares to buy. Fairly priced shares are scarce.
This is a different world than public markets and regulated brokers. Verify who you’re working with before committing any money.
A few other platforms that offer pre-IPO access include:
- StartEngine – Primarily equity crowdfunding, but has moved into mid-to-late stage pre-IPO companies. It offered SpaceX shares recently (March 2025).
- WeFunder – Similar to StartEngine. Equity crowdfunding plus pre-IPO deals.
- Equitybee – Specializes in employee stock options funding and share transfers upon liquidity events.
- Dizraptor – Another website with pre-IPO opportunities.
- Republic Ventures – Mostly equity crowdfunding and crypto, but also moving into pre-IPO.
- IPO Club – Requires a membership but offers pre-IPO access to multiple companies.
You may not see available shares on any of these platforms at a given moment, but all can provide access and be monitored for opportunities.
Often, these platforms only promote high-demand opportunities (like SpaceX) via email instead of the website, so you need to be on the email lists to be in the know.
3. Fidelity Mutual Funds
Multiple Fidelity mutual funds maintain sizable investments in SpaceX. Fidelity invested in 2016 and continues to hold shares.
The most notable funds include:
- Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX)
- Fidelity OTC (FOCPX)
- Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund (FBGRX)
- Fidelity Growth Company Fund (FDGRX)
For example, the Fidelity Contrafund owns about $2.7 billion of SpaceX shares as of January 2025.
These three lots put SpaceX in the top 20 largest holdings for the fund. While public company values update each trading day, the SpaceX market value is “marked to market” occasionally to represent the fund’s fair value.
SpaceX is one holding among several public companies, so any major valuation increases in SpaceX will have minimal impact on the daily mutual fund prices but will affect its long-term performance.
Fidelity and other institutional investors have methods for valuing private companies and must convey valuations for their holdings to the SEC. These filings are available to the public (that’s a link to the Fidelity OTC Form NPORT-P; it ain’t pretty).
Good data aggregators use the information to help determine estimated valuations, which help inform private investment decisions.
4. Own Tesla Stock to Participate in the Starlink IPO
This one requires patience.
Long-time Tesla stock owners may have early access to a possible Starlink IPO spinoff from SpaceX.
That would essentially give you access to the cash cow and insane growth potential of Starlink if and when a spinoff happens.
Musk has repeatedly said that it makes sense for Starlink to be spun off. SpaceX would retain substantial ownership and could sell shares over time to raise money, while a public Starlink could raise capital from the public markets.
Initially, Starlink would raise cash in an IPO. Later, with strong demand, Starlink could issue secondary share offerings as Tesla did in September 2020 to raise $5 billion nearly overnight.
On June 23rd, 2021, Musk tweeted the following in response to a question on Twitter:
Though certainly not guaranteed, Musk seems open to potentially offering Starlink IPO shares to Tesla shareholders.
Starlink may be valued at as much as half of SpaceX’s valuation, potentially placing it at or near the top of the largest IPOs in history. If you own Tesla, you may have a chance to invest at the IPO price.
6. Buy Alphabet Stock
You can own a tiny sliver of SpaceX by owning Alphabet (GOOGL) shares, Google’s parent company.
Along with Fidelity, Google announced a $1 billion investment in SpaceX in January 2016. The investment amounted to 10% ownership of the company ($10 billion valuation) at the time.
SpaceX has endured several additional venture rounds and tender offers since then, raising the value of Alphabet’s holdings and helping to elevate its stock price.
Owning Alphabet is an indirect way to own SpaceX and Starlink. Indirect investing in pre-IPO startups via public companies that hold shares is the easiest and lowest-risk way to gain investment exposure to high-demand pre-IPO companies, but returns will be minimal.
6. AG Dillion
AG Dillon & Co is a venture capital asset manager for wealth management firms.
Aaron Dillion is a podcaster and former SoFi employee who has put together pre-IPO investment funds that allow retail investors to participate in the private markets through their registered investment advisors (RIAs).
Over the past few years, he has assembled multiple investment funds, including SpaceX and other companies, selling primarily to RIAs. Minimums start at $2,500, and funds can be purchased through Fidelity and Schwab.
He may have sold to individual investors in the past, but he is clear about going through RIAs now. If you work with a financial advisor or wealth manager, this may be an option for you.
No guarantees this will work; it’s another trail to follow if you’re exploring options.
7. Exchange-Traded Funds Holding SpaceX
A few exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have emerged that provide retail access to private companies like SpaceX.
This method of investing in SpaceX is the most dubious. Nonetheless, these ETFs (and probably others) exist and get a lot of press, so I should mention them here.
Since SpaceX is private, you can’t put an accurate second-by-second trading price on the asset. Yet, these ETFs trade like stocks.
The ARK Venture Fund mentioned earlier is a non-traded fund, and how I prefer to invest. Fidelity’s private holdings are mixed in with more liquid holdings and daily updates to NAV (on public holdings), and Fidelity has a great reputation.
So, I choose those options before these ETFs.
Research these ETFs before investing to ensure they meet your investment objectives.
the XOVR ETF
The ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF (XOVR) owns 179,879.8795 shares of SpaceX stock as of March 3rd, 2025. The SpaceX holdings are weighted at about 11% of the ETF.
It has a 0.75% expense ratio.
This is a publicly traded ETF, so investors can buy it like any other ETF and own SpaceX indirectly. It holds mostly public companies, so it is similar to the Fidelity funds but with a higher concentration of SpaceX.
However, the 2025 SpaceX holdings disclosure has led to a surge of ETF buyers, diluting shares for new buyers. As more investors pile in, the fund must acquire more SpaceX shares to maintain a high weighting.
As a traded fund holding a private company, the long-term viability of this investment vehicle is risky and uncertain. Though not as uncertain as the next fund.
The DXYZ ETF
Destiny Tech100 Inc. (DXYZ) is a closed-end fund (see above for definition) that provides retail investors access to shares of private, venture-backed technology companies like SpaceX.
It has a 2.5% management fee. As of September 2024, SpaceX made up 36.9% of the fund’s weight.
As a closed-end fund, DXYZ issues a fixed number of shares traded on the open market, allowing investors to buy and sell shares similarly to stocks.
However, DXYZ trades at significant premiums to its net asset value (NAV), leading to discrepancies between the fund’s market price and the actual value of its holdings.
For example, for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, the net asset value (NAV) was reported to be $5.32 per share, up from $5.15 per share the previous quarter.
But on that same day, the ETF traded at nearly twice its NAV.
A few months later, it was trading at 14 times its NAV! That’s absurd.
The DXYZ is a rather dubious investment asset that I do not recommend. I haven’t covered it much on my website because the inherent nature of private investing doesn’t align with a traded ETF.
I’ve covered it here to preempt comments that I left an accessible option off the list.
That said, the fund represents what retail investors crave: easy access to the world’s most innovative and disruptive pre-IPO companies.
Unfortunately, the risks of investing at such inflated values and possibly the structure of this investment vehicle may eventually be problematic for retail investors.
But innovation like this and pushing the regulatory limits for public investment products may lead to more viable products that work better for retail investors.
Conclusion
Investing in SpaceX is not for the faint of heart; it requires patience, diligence, and the ability to overcome high barriers to entry.
Carl was aggressive in his approach, contacting someone with access and asking to be part of the deal. It worked.
Most investors must be equally crafty, exploring multiple alternative approaches such as venture funds, pre-IPO platforms, or indirect exposure using the abovementioned ideas.
The demand for SpaceX shares far exceeds the supply, leading to significant premiums that make careful due diligence essential if pursuing a large investment stake.
Aspiring investors should determine what premium they are willing to pay and then seek opportunities through multiple channels.
For non-accredited investors in the U.S., the ARK Venture Fund provides one of the most accessible routes, albeit with trade-offs like high fees and limited liquidity.
Those with more capital and accreditation status should have greater access to pursue a multi-channel approach, but they must also be prepared to navigate opaque markets and fast-moving opportunities.
Regardless of the method chosen, investing in a private company like SpaceX carries substantial risks, including a lack of transparency and liquidity constraints.
As with any speculative investment, only allocate capital you can afford to lose. Stay informed, act swiftly, and manage expectations if you’re committed to gaining exposure.
If ambitions to unlock ferocious growth in the space economy succeed, and SpaceX remains the leading rocket ship company, long-term returns could be astronomical.
Thanks Craig for this awesome writeup!
If you’re interested in learning more about investing in SpaceX or other private compones, pay Craig a visit over at Access IPOs.
To the stars!
Hey Carl, thanks for having me on the blog. Opportunities come and go, and this is not an exhaustive list.
Interested investors should monitor multiple pre-IPO platforms and syndicators to find deals. Importantly, pay attention to the valuation. I see a lot of overpriced SpaceX share offerings (by tens of billions), so investors need to be patient and diligent on price before investing. Good luck out there!
Thanks for the insight into how to get SpaceX shares. This was very informational and well written and helped explain many things that was confusing to me.
I am tempted, but every time I invest outside following my basic index investments (VTI) I end up not profiting any more than average index returns. When SpaceX goes public they will be part of VTI and I will own my slice then maybe indirectly I already own some with Alphabet already in VTI.
I am sure Carl will make a killing on this like so many of his other great tech picks.
VTI isn’t a bad way to play. I have a private loan coming back next week and I’ll have $360,000 to put in the markets. Almost all of that (90%?) will be VTI. Maybe I’ll put a little in QQQ or GOOG because I still like to screw around a bit…
I’d like to see an international organization pry SapceX away from its current ownership and make the system available equally to everyone living on this planet. The current ownership has abused its monopoly to arbitrarily shut off access to their perceived greedy self interests.
Sure, Musk created an amazing set of products and became the world’s richest man, but he’s become an evil Bond villain and a worldwide menace.
Starlink should no longer be a privately held for profit corporation. It’s too important and too valuable to the future of mankind.
I agree that Starlink is really important, but forcing a private company to turn over resources sounds like the type of stuff that happens in totalitarian regimes. There has to be a better way, perhaps through legislation. I know that some countries like India only allow Starlink to operate if it agrees to certain conditions.
Great info, thanks. Will check out Hiive.
Also, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust now has its biggest position as SpaceX. Can be bought at most brokers I believe.
Jack
Wow, I find it amusing that Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s largest holding is SpaceX. That’s wild. I see that they also hold TSMC, ASML, Ferrari (!), and Bytedance. That’s wild.