Bloomberg: Billions from Middle East Riches Flow to SpaceX
Waleed Mansour – Investment offices managing the fortunes of some of the world’s wealthiest families have revealed bets totaling billions of dollars in SpaceX, signaling strong interest from ultra-high-net-worth individuals in the rocket, satellite, and artificial intelligence company founded by billionaire Elon Musk. According to data compiled by Bloomberg from U.S. regulatory disclosures, more than 12 family offices held investments worth at least $3.8 billion in SpaceX during the first half of 2026, marking one of the largest stakes disclosed by family wealth management offices in a single company.
The family office of Nick Pritzker, heir to the Life Hotels group, topped the list of major investors, with its Tau Capital office holding investments worth approximately $1.8 billion by the end of June, just weeks after SpaceX’s initial public offering. Blue Creek Capital, owned by Michael Platt, and the Brazilian Moreira Salles family, behind one of Brazil’s largest financial institutions, also disclosed stakes each exceeding $100 million. Investments extended to the Middle East, with U.S. filings showing a UAE-based investment firm holding a stake worth around $65 million in the Texas-headquartered company, according to Bloomberg.
Some of these offices are no strangers to Musk’s investment empire; Tau Capital and the Moreira Salles family also hold investments in Tesla, reflecting the broadening bets of some major investors on the American billionaire’s companies.
These disclosures are particularly significant as they represent the first time a group of the world’s most influential private investors has revealed the size of their SpaceX holdings, following the company’s transition from one of the most sought-after startups to a publicly traded firm. SpaceX shares began trading on June 12 after the company raised $75 billion in its IPO, amid demand exceeding the number of available shares by more than four times. According to Bloomberg, this was the largest offering in history, more than double the size of Saudi Aramco’s IPO, which raised $29.4 billion about a decade ago.
The listing pushed Musk’s wealth to unprecedented levels, making him the first person in the world to reach a net worth of $1 trillion. However, the enthusiasm surrounding the listing did not prevent the stock from experiencing sharp volatility. It surged strongly in the first days of trading before the company lost more than $1 trillion in market value by early August. The end of the lock-up period for some shareholders in August was viewed as an additional risk to the share price due to potential increased supply, but its impact was limited compared to earlier concerns.
Despite these fluctuations, family office investments reveal the readiness of major wealth holders to bear risks associated with highly valued companies in exchange for exposure to sectors they consider potential long-term growth drivers, notably space, satellites, and artificial intelligence.
Family offices, private companies that manage the money and investments of the wealthy, have seen significant growth over the past two decades, coinciding with wealth expansion in technology, finance, and healthcare sectors. These entities hold a key advantage compared to many institutional investors, as they typically serve a single family or a small group of clients, granting them greater flexibility in decision-making and the ability to hold investments for longer periods. Their substantial liquidity also allows participation in deals inaccessible to other investors, prompting companies themselves to attract family offices when seeking funding.
Bloomberg notes that some of these offices may have acquired stakes in SpaceX before its listing, while others secured shares through the IPO.
U.S. 13F filings provide one of the rare windows into the investments of these offices, which are usually highly secretive. The law requires managers overseeing more than $100 million in U.S. stocks to file the form within 45 days of the end of each quarter, disclosing their holdings in companies traded on U.S. exchanges. This data allows tracking of hedge fund and major family office movements, though it does not provide a complete picture of all private investments or assets held outside U.S. markets.
The concentration of $3.8 billion in investments among a limited number of wealthy family offices highlights the financial influence these entities now wield and their ability to enter the world’s most sought-after deals. The bet on SpaceX also reflects a broader shift in private wealth toward companies linked to advanced technology, space, and artificial intelligence, even as their valuations rise and stock prices fluctuate. At a time when major billionaires are betting that these sectors will drive a significant portion of global economic growth in the coming years, family offices are positioning themselves at the forefront of this transformation.
