News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
SpaceX IPO earns millions for US Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Small Business Administration head Kelly Loeffler multiplied the value of her investment in Elon Musk's SpaceX after she was nominated for the job, earning millions of dollars from the company's record initial public offering, a Reuters review of her financial disclosures showed. Loeffler invested between $1 million and $5 million as of January 3, 2025, in xAI, Musk's AI and social media firm that has since merged with SpaceX (SPCX.O), opens new tab, according to a required financial disclosure submitted before she became SBA's administrator. Later in 2025, Loeffler invested again in SpaceX and xAI between $1 million and $5 million, according to a separate financial disclosure covering her investments for all of 2025 that she signed on May 14, 2026. Reuters obtained the form from the SBA on June 12. Loeffler's second investment has not been previously reported. Two independent government ethics attorneys agreed with Reuters' assessment of Loeffler's disclosure. Cabinet members use ranges to declare the value of their assets on their required financial disclosure forms, and they do not disclose the dates of their investments before taking office. SpaceX is a military contractor for the U.S. government. Federal law, opens new tab prohibits cabinet members from participating in decisions involving a company in which they have a financial interest. Public records do not show a financial relationship between SBA and xAI or SpaceX. xAI was not included on the public list of AI tools, opens new tab used by SBA employees in 2025. Loeffler and her team did not respond to multiple requests for comment about her SpaceX investment. VALUE OF SPACEX INVESTMENT SOARS Loeffler's bet on SpaceX paid off. The company priced the biggest-ever U.S. IPO on June 12, valuing the space, satellite and AI provider at $1.77 trillion. Her first investment in xAI would have been worth between $7 million and $2.6 billion on the day of the IPO, depending on the exact amount she invested and the date she made it, said Franco Granda, analyst at data provider PitchBook. The second investment would have been worth between $2.2 million and $25.4 million that day, he said. The earlier the investment, the more it would have been worth at the IPO, he said. xAI's valuation increased by more than 7,000% between its first investment round and January 5, 2025. SpaceX's valuation more than doubled in 2025. At least 10 Trump administration officials listed investments in SpaceX or xAI on their 2025 financial disclosure forms. None of those officials works for the Defense Department. Billionaire Musk, a former Trump adviser, is the founder and CEO of SpaceX. Loeffler initially invested in xAI via a private placement, according to her disclosure form. Private placements are typically open to select individuals and institutions with significant financial resources. Loeffler is a wealthy businesswoman. She was the founding chief executive at Bakkt, a bitcoin trading platform, and spent 16 years working at Intercontinental Exchange, the firm that owns the New York Stock Exchange, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is married to Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher. Loeffler briefly represented Georgia in the Senate. The SBA helps entrepreneurs start and build their small businesses, according to the agency website. It connects business owners with lenders and funding to help them recover from natural disasters, among other responsibilities. The Senate confirmed Loeffler as SBA administrator on February 19, 2025. Reporting by Courtney Rozen Editing by Chris Sanders and Rod Nickel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence Courtney Rozen Thomson Reuters Courtney Rozen reports on the world's largest technology companies from Washington, D.C., focusing on the relationship between the tech industry and the U.S. government. She reported on DOGE and the federal workforce during the first year of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term. Prior to joining Reuters, she was a White House correspondent at Bloomberg Government. She graduated from American University with a master's degree in journalism.
Wall Street warms to SpaceX ahead of Nasdaq 100 inclusion
July 7 (Reuters) - SpaceX's (SPCX.O), opens new tab addition to the Nasdaq 100 on Tuesday is expected to unleash billions in passive buying, as brokerages kick off coverage of the $2 trillion-plus rocket and satellite company with broadly bullish views. The company joins the index just 15 days after its stock market debut on June 12 - among the fastest inclusions ever - thanks to the Nasdaq's revised rules for newly listed companies looking to enter widely tracked benchmarks. Its debut in the tech-heavy index is set to create another source of demand for its shares as index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the Nasdaq 100 (.NDX), opens new tab will need to buy shares to match the benchmark's new composition. Active managers who track the index closely may also adjust their positions. Many retail investors prefer investing in funds to diversify their holdings. Over $587 billion is benchmarked in funds tracking the Nasdaq 100, including Invesco's QQQ (QQQ.O), opens new tab and QQQM (QQQM.O), opens new tab, which will now have to make room for SpaceX. J.P. Morgan estimated last month that SpaceX's addition to the index could draw $4.3 billion in passive inflows. QUIET PERIOD ENDS Investors are awaiting a wave of reports from Wall Street brokerages making their first attempt to value SpaceX as a publicly traded company, applying traditional valuation metrics to a business that's largely been assessed by investors' belief in Musk's long-term bets. The industry-mandated quiet period ends for analysts at banks that underwrote the blockbuster IPO - led by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, BofA Securities, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan. Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs started coverage on the stock on Tuesday with their top ratings, with Morgan Stanley dubbing the company "AI's final frontier." "We see the company as well-positioned to scale its differentiated advantages across space, connectivity, and AI," Goldman analysts said, betting each market has the potential to become a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity over a five-year-plus horizon. Brokerages RBC, Bernstein, and Stifel also initiated coverage with their top ratings, betting on the success of Starship, SpaceX's next-generation rocket that is designed to be fully reusable. "The Starship is the flywheel that powers SpaceX's ambitions," RBC analysts said. Earlier this month, Oppenheimer became the first to initiate coverage with an "outperform" rating. INVESTORS BET ON AI CAPABILITIES Investors are betting SpaceX can evolve into a hyperscale AI infrastructure provider in the near term, using cash generated to fund the development of Grok as it takes on OpenAI's GPT models and Anthropic's Claude. They also see significant room for Starlink to expand its dominance in satellite communications, while much of the company's longer-term ambitions depend on the successful development of its next-generation Starship rocket. However, not everyone is bullish on SpaceX. Morningstar analysts pegged the company's valuation at about $780 billion, citing uncertainty around its AI business, including xAI and social media platform X. With a market capitalization of $2.1 trillion, SpaceX is the sixth-largest U.S. company, and CEO Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. FTSE Russell added the stock to its U.S. indexes last month, with funds such as iShares Russell 1000 ETF (IWB.P), opens new tab already giving investors a piece of the biggest IPO in U.S. history. However, S&P Global (SPGI.N), opens new tab declined to create a similar fast-track process for the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab in June, and it is expected to take at least a year before SpaceX joins the world's most widely tracked index. SpaceX shares have gained more than 6% since their debut in their short ride marked by post-IPO volatility. Reporting by Purvi Agarwal, Rashika Singh and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * U.S. Markets Rashika Singh Thomson Reuters Rashika reports on brokerages and financial markets, alongside technology and corporate developments for Reuters, with a focus on U.S. and global companies. Her coverage spans analyst actions, earnings-driven stock moves, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, aerospace and defense, and high‑growth technology stocks, often through breaking news and market‑moving "hot stock" coverage. Her reporting primarily appears in the Technology, Business, and Markets sections of the Reuters website and wire service, examining how brokerage research, corporate strategy and earnings influence investor sentiment and global competition. She regularly contributes to Reuters' spot and breaking‑news coverage, rather than a named column or standalone newsletter.
