Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL) disclosed that it trimmed its SpaceX stake by roughly half, with the sale priced off a $1.25 trillion valuation. Co-CEO Marc Lipschultz said the partial exit locked in a substantial gain while allowing the firm to retain its remaining stake.
Lipschultz told analysts on a conference call, “Specifically at SpaceX … we made about 10x our money on that investment,” and added, “We’ve sold about half of it at a $1.25 trillion valuation, still holding about half of it," Reuters reported.
One of the firm's vehicles, Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp, put $27 million into SpaceX equity in 2021 and has repeatedly marked up that position since then.
A securities filing shows the fund carried its SpaceX shares at $195 million at the end of 2025. That year-end 2025 figure implied a $105 million increase over the year, and SpaceX was the largest driver of the fund's unrealized appreciation, Reuters added.
The same filing indicated the portfolio is largely software-focused, with SpaceX standing out as its lone aerospace equity holding.
Lipschultz said the SpaceX profit matters when other parts of a credit book take hits, telling those on the call that “those are the ways… we can offset some of those losses.” He also said Blue Owl first worked with SpaceX as a lender before later taking an ownership position.
Describing the relationship, Lipschultz told analysts, “We made a loan to the company and had the privilege of getting to know them very well and then participating in ongoing conversations about other financing opportunities."
Following the call, shares of Blue Owl stock rose to $9.80, up 10.4%, its best day for the company since April 2025. The stock’s performance rose due to the industry rallying on the news of its SpaceX investment as well as its positive earnings result.
Blue Owl Capital reported a 13% increase in revenues, 14% increase in fee-related earnings, and 11% increase in distributable earnings compared to the first quarter of 2025.
The company raised $57 billion of capital over the last 12 months, with $11 billion raised in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting strong investor interest across various platforms, including credit, real assets, and GP strategic capital.
Operational highlights include significant fundraising in real assets and digital infrastructure, with Blue Owl playing a critical role in large-scale projects such as Amazon’s $12 billion data center campus.
The company expects continued growth in fee-paying AUM and remains optimistic about the future due to the diversification of its platform and strong performance across its strategies.
SpaceX is targeting a May listing with a valuation of more than $1.75 trillion, making it the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco’s $29 billion debut in 2019. The offering is expected to price the week of June 15.
Details regarding the IPO are subject to change, sources noted.
It is understood that SpaceX may also qualify for inclusion in major indexes such as the Nasdaq 100 shortly after its IPO, bypassing the traditional longer waiting periods.
According to previous media reports, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley have all secured senior roles on the deal. Citigroup is also among the banks preparing the IPO.
International banks are also taking part in the process. Royal Bank of Canada, Mizuho Financial Group and Macquarie Group are all focused on managing shares from their respective locations.
In February, Musk announced that SpaceX acquired his artificial intelligence startup xAI. The transaction valued SpaceX at about $1 trillion and xAI at roughly $250 billion.
Photo: T. Schneider via Shutterstock
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