Investment firm 137 Ventures holds a stake in SpaceX valued at approximately $10 billion [1], anticipating a massive payout as the company prepares for an initial public offering.
This valuation reflects the staggering growth of SpaceX's private market value, illustrating how early investors in the aerospace giant have captured immense wealth. The move signals a potential shift in how venture capital firms manage liquidity events for companies that stay private longer than traditional startups.
Justin Fishner-Wolfson, founder and managing partner at 137 Ventures, said the expected windfall on Bloomberg Tech on Thursday, April 30, 2026. He said that the firm has raised two new funds to support startups and founders who choose to remain private for longer periods. This strategy aligns with the current trend of late-stage private equity where companies avoid the public markets until they have reached a massive scale.
137 Ventures currently owns more than 1% of SpaceX [2], a position that has grown in value as SpaceX's operations expanded. The firm's ability to capture such a significant portion of the company's equity has placed it in a position to capitalize on the IPO. The anticipated windfall is expected to fund future investments in new startups and founders.
While SpaceX has long been a long-term play, the transition to a public company will likely create a new baseline for aerospace valuation. The move by 137 Ventures to raise new funds simultaneously suggests that the firm is preparing for a new cycle of investment based on the liquidity provided by the SpaceX payout.
Fishner-Wolfson said the firm is focusing on its new funds to back founders staying private longer, as the same pattern of growth seen in SpaceX has been repeated in other late-stage private companies. The firm intends to use the windfall to expand its portfolio of early-stage and late-stage private equity investments.
“137 Ventures holds a stake in stake in SpaceX valued at approximately $10 billion”
The scale of this windfall highlights a trend of 'staying private longer,' where companies like SpaceX reach massive valuations before going public. For 137 Ventures, this is a new validation of their strategy to provide liquidity to early employees and investors, and the likelihood of a public offering for SpaceX is a shift in the aerospace industry's financial landscape as it moves toward a public market valuation.
