Trump bought SpaceX shares two weeks after blockbuster IPO
President Donald Trump purchased up to $50,000 in SpaceX stock on June 23, two weeks after Elon Musk's company held a record-setting IPO. The shares have since declined, potentially leaving the president's holding underwater.
A financial disclosure first reported by Reuters shows that President Donald Trump bought as much as $50,000 worth of SpaceX shares on June 23, two weeks after the company's record-breaking initial public offering.
The exact price Trump paid is unknown, but by June 23 the stock had already fallen from a high of over $200, trading in the mid-$150 range that day. By the close of trading this past Monday, shares had dropped further to $135 — the same level as the IPO price — meaning the president's stake may now be worth less than he paid for it.
A complicated relationship
Trump and Musk are widely seen as close allies, though the two had a brief public falling-out last summer. During that episode, Musk accused Trump of withholding Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein because of how frequently Trump's name appears in them.
A recent Wall Street Journal analysis found that SpaceX has been winning an increasing share of government contracts and benefiting from the Trump administration's deregulatory approach.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Reuters that the president's investment portfolio is managed by outside financial institutions that structure it to track recognized market indexes, such as the Schwab 1000.
SpaceX reportedly lobbied major index providers before its IPO to change their rules so the company could be added more quickly. As a result, many investors may hold SpaceX shares indirectly without realizing it.
