Cathie Wood's ARK Invest bought $529.7 million worth of SpaceX stock on the company's first day of public trading, placing a massive bet on Elon Musk's space venture. The purchase of 3.29 million shares at the IPO price of $135 came on June 12, the same day Musk's net worth topped $1 trillion for the first time.
A $530 million bet on SpaceX
SpaceX shares surged 19% on IPO day, giving early investors a quick gain. ARK's buy-in isn't new — Wood first bought SpaceX stock in late 2023 — but the scale stands out. The company's Starlink satellite internet division is its only profitable business. SpaceX disclosed an accumulated deficit of $41.3 billion as of March 31, 2026, and has never paid a dividend. It doesn't plan to in the foreseeable future. The IPO's retail allocation was 30% of the offering, three to six times the typical level, signaling strong individual investor demand.
Balancing the portfolio
To fund the SpaceX position, ARK trimmed several holdings on the same day. The firm sold shares of Tesla, AMD, Rocket Lab, Roku, and Baidu. The ARK Innovation ETF is up 1.61% year to date, well behind the S&P 500's roughly 9% gain. Over the past 12 months, the fund recorded about $294 million in net outflows. A Morningstar analysis found that from 2014 to 2024, the ARK fund wiped out $7 billion in investor wealth — a stark reminder of the risks in Wood's high-conviction strategy.
Pattern of IPO investments
Wood's latest move follows a familiar playbook. ARK bought Coinbase after its 2021 listing and later picked up shares of CoreWeave. The SpaceX IPO's outsized retail allocation could add volatility, but it also reflects the brand's popularity. For now, ARK is betting that SpaceX's long-term potential outweighs its massive deficits and lack of dividends. Whether that bet pays off remains tied to Starlink's growth and the company's ability to turn a profit beyond satellite internet.
