Roelof Botha Joins SpaceX’s Board of Directors
Former Sequoia Capital managing partner Roelof Botha has been appointed to SpaceX’s board, less than a week after the company’s record-breaking initial public offering.
SpaceX announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday that Roelof Botha, former managing partner at Sequoia Capital, is joining its board of directors. The appointment comes less than a week after SpaceX completed the largest IPO in history. Botha has been appointed to fill an existing vacancy and will serve until the next annual shareholder meeting. He will also join the audit committee of the SpaceX board. Botha did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the filing, SpaceX wrote that Botha “brings extensive public company experience along with a deep audit committee background, having served on the boards and audit committees of numerous public companies.” He stepped down from his role as Sequoia’s leader late last year as the firm dealt with backlash over comments made by partner Shaun Maguire.
Botha serves on many public company boards, but none like SpaceX, where CEO Elon Musk enjoys near-absolute control and shareholders have limited power. According to filings, Musk holds more than 80% of the voting power, and SpaceX stock owners have severely restricted opportunities to challenge his decisions. Musk also controls all changes to the board’s composition.
Botha has a long history with Musk. In 2000, Musk brought Botha, also a South African, to run the finance division at PayPal. Botha started at the payments company in March 2000. Musk was pushed out as PayPal CEO in September 2000. In a Fortune interview last year, Botha said: “I’ve known Elon for over 25 years. He was the first person to offer me a job in America. He believed in me when I was an unknown student at Stanford. I have a lot of appreciation and understanding that he’s not perfect. None of us are. He deeply cares about doing the right thing.”
With Botha, SpaceX’s board now has nine directors. He joins Musk confidants Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio Gracias, Steve Jurvetson, and Luke Nosek; SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell; Google executive Donald Harrison; and venture capitalist Randy Glein. Musk serves as chairman of the board.
Sequoia invested in SpaceX in 2019, and reportedly owned 1.5% of the company heading into the IPO, giving it a position worth more than $20 billion.
