Musk's longtime backer gifts SpaceX shares to its own investors instead of selling
Venture firm Valor Equity Partners, led by longtime Elon Musk backer Antonio Gracias, chose to hand SpaceX shares directly to its limited partners rather than sell them, in a transfer estimated at about $8.5 billion.
Valor Equity Partners, the venture capital firm founded by longtime Elon Musk backer and current SpaceX board member Antonio Gracias, has taken an unusual approach to its SpaceX holdings: rather than selling shares and distributing cash proceeds to investors, it has directly transferred a portion of its SpaceX stock to them. The move was disclosed in an SEC filing spotted by Bloomberg.
Decades of investment paid off
Valor has backed SpaceX for decades, and entities controlled by Gracias held more than 500 million shares at the time of the company's IPO — the second-largest stake after Musk himself, who owned over 6 billion shares.
A transfer instead of a sale
Instead of cashing out, Valor gave 8.5% of its SpaceX holdings directly to its limited partners, a stake Bloomberg estimates at roughly $8.5 billion. Following the transfer, Valor will still retain more than 460 million shares, according to the SEC disclosure.
Handing over shares directly, rather than selling them, could offer Valor's limited partners a tax advantage. More significantly, it avoids flooding the open market with a large block of shares at once, which could push down the stock price. SpaceX shares are already down roughly 10% since their high-profile IPO debut.
