Key Takeaways:
Powerlaw Corp's disclosure that SpaceX accounts for nearly a fifth of its portfolio offers public-market investors a rare proxy into Elon Musk's space empire ahead of a record $75 billion IPO.
Powerlaw Corp., a closed-end fund that began trading on Nasdaq last month, disclosed SpaceX as its single largest holding with a fair value of $117 million, giving retail investors a public-market window into the rocket company ahead of its June 12 IPO.
"This is one of the few ways for mainstream investors to get SpaceX exposure without waiting for the IPO or buying in private markets," said Hannah Park, a former credit analyst at Moody's who covers asset management and fund structures.
The $117 million stake represented 19.37 percent of Powerlaw's net assets as of May 13, implying total net assets of roughly $604 million, the San Francisco-based fund said in a regulatory filing. PWRL, which listed via direct listing on May 27, invests across a portfolio of high-growth private technology companies. SpaceX's own IPO is targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation with shares priced at $135 each, which would make it the largest IPO in history at $75 billion in proceeds.
The disclosure comes as SpaceX's valuation faces a wide divergence — Morningstar pegs the company at $780 billion, less than half the IPO target, while Ark Invest argues Starlink alone supports a $2 trillion valuation. For Powerlaw investors, the outcome of that debate will directly determine the fund's performance, given the concentrated position.
Powerlaw's structure as a registered closed-end fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940 means it reports net asset value monthly and discloses portfolio holdings quarterly, offering transparency that private-market SpaceX investors lack. The fund's prospectus, filed May 20, outlines a strategy of providing daily liquidity for shares that otherwise would be locked in illiquid private positions.
SpaceX's IPO, scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq on June 12, has drawn intense scrutiny over its pricing. The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of 2026, it generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a net loss of $4.3 billion. Its balance sheet shows $102 billion in assets against $60.5 billion in debt.
Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owens assigned SpaceX a fair-value estimate of $780 billion using a discounted cash flow model, valuing the core launch and Starlink businesses at $611 billion in enterprise value and adding $170 billion for AI operations under probability-weighted scenarios. "We think the company has been significantly overvalued and investors will have opportunities to buy the stock at more attractive levels after the IPO," Owens said.
Ark Invest's chief futurist Brett Winton takes the opposite view, arguing that Starlink's capacity expansion via Starship rockets could drive revenue into the hundreds of billions. "With each Starship rocket, they can launch 60 terabits a second," Winton said on CNBC. "Ten launches can duplicate their existing capacity in space."
The valuation gap highlights the challenge for Powerlaw's portfolio managers. If SpaceX trades at or above its $135 IPO price, the fund's 19.37 percent position would be worth substantially more than the $117 million carried value. If the stock trades down toward Morningstar's estimate, the concentrated holding could drag on net asset value.
Elon Musk, who will retain more than 82 percent voting control after the IPO through a dual-class structure, has been promoting the offering by comparing it to Tesla's early days. "Tesla IPO market cap was 0.1 percent of its current value," Musk wrote on X this week, as Tesla trades above $1.3 trillion.
For Powerlaw, the SpaceX position represents both opportunity and concentration risk. The fund's ability to attract and retain investors will depend in part on how the SpaceX IPO performs — and whether the public market validates the $1.75 trillion price tag or sides with the bears.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
