When Blue Owl Capital quietly bought into SpaceX back in 2021, it wasn’t making a headline grab. It was making a calculated wager on one of the most ambitious companies in the world. Five years later, that wager is paying off handsomely.
On Thursday, Blue Owl co-CEO Marc Lipschultz confirmed the alternative asset manager had sold roughly half its SpaceX stake at a $1.25 trillion valuation, walking away with approximately ten times its original investment. “We’ve sold about half of it at a $1.25 trillion valuation, still holding about half of it,” Lipschultz told analysts on a conference call. The remaining position means Blue Owl still has significant upside exposure as SpaceX hurtles toward what could be the most consequential IPO in market history.
READ: SpaceX to pursue ‘one of the largest’ IPOs in 2026 (December 10, 2025)
SpaceX is expected to go public later this year at a potential valuation of $1.75 trillion, with plans to raise around $75 billion, a listing that would shatter all previous records. The deal could also push founder Elon Musk within striking distance of becoming the world’s first trillionaire, a milestone that would have seemed fictional a decade ago.
Blue Owl’s path into SpaceX was built on relationship, not opportunism. The firm was among SpaceX’s earliest lenders, and that early financing foothold opened doors to deeper engagement. “We made a loan to the company and had the privilege of getting to know them very well,” Lipschultz said, “and then participating in ongoing conversations about other financing opportunities.” That long-term relationship eventually translated into an equity stake, a rare privilege in a company that has remained tightly held for years.
The numbers behind the investment tell a compelling story. Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp, one of the firm’s funds, put in $27 million of equity in 2021. By the end of 2025, that holding was valued at $195 million up to $105 million in a single year, making SpaceX the fund’s single largest contributor to unrealized gains. A separate fund, Blue Owl Capital Corp, held SpaceX stock valued at $21.7 million at year-end, more than doubling from $10 million the prior year.
Lipschultz was candid about the strategic rationale behind the partial sale, noting that realized gains from positions like SpaceX can help cushion portfolios against potential credit losses elsewhere.
For Blue Owl, the SpaceX story is far from over. With half the position still intact and an IPO on the horizon, the firm stands to capture even more value from one of the most extraordinary investment rides of the decade.