Early SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) investor Antonio Gracias is turning his private equity company’s stake into profits for backers of the company through a donation of shares, a move that comes as the stock is soaring higher.
SpaceX Investor Gives Away Shares
The SpaceX IPO helped make CEO Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. While he’s not worth a trillion dollars, Valor Equity Partners CEO and founder Antonio Gracias also has gained significant net worth in 2026 thanks to the public offering.
Gracias is worth an estimated $20.5 billion according to Bloomberg, ranking 127th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The investor has added $5.82 billion in wealth in 2026.
A Form4 filing from Gracias and Valor shows that the investor gave away around 8.5% of the company’s SpaceX holdings (42,790,223) shares. After the giveaway, Valor still owns 460,624,307 SpaceX shares, representing around 3.4% of the space company, as reported by Bloomberg.
The $8.5 billion in shares donated to early investors could be done for tax advantages and is meant to reward the investors in Valor Equity Partners who were early backers in the space company. The move allows investors in Valor Equity to take profits from the space company, while the private equity firm retains the majority of its SpaceX holdings.
Gracias currently serves on the Board of Directors of SpaceX and remains one of the largest shareholders with his large ownership stake in Valor Equity Partners.
The investor mentioned returning capital via distributions back in June prior to the IPO, according to Bloomberg.
While Gracias is allowing some of the Valor investors the chance to take profits from the SpaceX IPO, he previously said he planned on holding the stock for the long term.
Believer in Elon Musk
Gracias was previously introduced to Musk via David Sacks. Valor began investing in SpaceX in 2008 and, by 2021, had invested around $400 million in the company.
Along with being one of the biggest backers of SpaceX, Gracias and Valor are also invested in Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). Gracias was previously a member of the Tesla Board of Directors from 2007 to 2021, before stepping down.
Gracias and Valor also invested in Musk’s The Boring Company earlier this year.
SpaceX Stock Price Action
SpaceX stock is up 2.2% to $154.20 versus a 52-week trading range of $104.83 to $225.64. SpaceX stock hit its highest level since July 9 with Thursday’s stock gains.
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