Who will benefit the most from the SpaceX IPO? Mainly Elon — and a few from his inner circle

While there are some shocking revelations in SpaceX’s S-1 as it prepares to become a public company, Elon Musk’s complete control of the company is probably not one of them.

I would argue that it is an oddball provision when Elon Musk reaches a billion More the shares will add to his already huge fortune, controlling a company and a million people living on Mars (yes, really), perhaps the most jaw-dropping. It also doesn’t matter. Musk controls and can vote those shares now, though.

But even a billion more voting rights don’t apply to this company’s setup because Musk is, by miles, the largest shareholder in the company.

He owns just under 850 million Class A shares, which are entitled to 1 vote per share, and another approximately 5.6 billion Class B shares, which are entitled to 10 votes per share. That includes billions of shares dependent on a million people living in the company’s SpaceX city colony on Mars.

Sci-fi scenarios aside, there are a few people who stand to gain the most if the SpaceX IPO is successful and the stock continues to perform well in the future: the 5% shareholders. These are people who own at least 5% of the company.

Although the company hasn’t said how many shares it will sell or at what price, the number on the street is that the IPO will raise $75 billion, with an outstanding balance of $1.7 trillion. In those numbers, even a 1% stake is worth $17 billion.

Here’s a guide to who owns what.

Elon Muskfounder, CEO, CTO and chairman. Total SpaceX stock: gone 6.42 billion shares.

Antonio Graciasinvestor and board member. Total SpaceX stock: gone 503.4 million shares

Gracias is the co-founder and CEO of Valor Management and is a longtime Musk friend, pro-Musk board member and funder. He was on Tesla’s board from its early days through the years after its IPO. He was also a board member of Musk’s solar company Solar City during its controversial sale to Tesla. He has supported and held board roles for Musk’s Neuralink, including The Boring Company. He was also one of the financiers who agreed to support Musk’s failed attempt to take over OpenAI for $97 billion in early 2025.

Luke Nosekinvestor and board member. Total SpaceX stock: approx 33 million shares.

Nosek is the founder of the investment company Gigafund, and a member of the PayPal mafia. Nosek joined Peter Thiel at Founders Fund during its early days and led Founders’ first investment in Space X. He took a board seat, and has been on the board ever since. Gigafund also backs Musk’s other companies, The Boring Company and Neuralink.

Gwynne Shotwellthe SpaceX COO. Total SpaceX stock: approx 12.6 million shares.

Shotwell has been with SpaceX since 2002, and COO since 2008. He is a professional aerospace engineer who performs daily tasks. In another era, with many different founders, someone like Shotwell would have been given the position of founder, and would have had a significant role in the company. However, it is difficult to call him a low earner. For example, in 2025, he received a large portion of restricted stock units, bringing his compensation to $85.8 million that year.

Bret JohnsonCFO. Total SpaceX stock: approx 9.6 million shares.

Bret Johnsen has been the CFO of SpaceX since 2011. Prior to SpaceX he held CFO and finance roles in the semiconductor industry.

Ira Ehrenpreisinvestor and board member. SpaceX stock total: 809,050 shares.

Ehrenpreis is a founder and managing member of VC firm DBL Partners. He has been on the board of SpaceX
since February 2026 and is on the board of Tesla.

Randy Glenninvestor, board member. Total SpaceX stock: 277,800 shares.

Glein is the founder and managing partner of DFJ Growth.

And about 400 other VCs. SpaceX has raised nearly $30 billion in private equity so far from hundreds of investors, according to Pitchbook estimates. None of the others have a stake large enough to be reported, although, again, even a small percentage of the company must be worth billions to begin with.

The company, however, shares the prices these investors paid for their shares. Series A investors paid $1 per share. Series F investors paid $7.50 and the last investors, in Series N, paid $270 per share.