NEW YORK, June 16, 2026, 16:21 (EDT)
- ARK Invest picked up roughly 3.29 million SpaceX shares after the stock started trading, making a big public-market move on Elon Musk’s newly listed name.
- SpaceX shares changed hands at $201.98, rising $9.35 for the session. The stock hit an intraday high of $225.38.
- ARK sold some of its stakes in Tesla, AMD, Robinhood and Teradyne to free up cash for the transaction.
ARK Invest has bought a stake in SpaceX valued at over $500 million, one of its largest market moves in years as Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company draws new trading interest. Cathie Wood’s firm picked up almost 3.3 million SpaceX shares on IPO day, according to trade figures reported by CoinDesk.
Timing stands out in this trade. SpaceX shares jumped after last week’s debut, fueled by strong demand both for the stock and for options contracts. Those contracts let investors buy or sell shares at specific prices. Reuters said Tuesday that SpaceX overtook Amazon’s market cap and at one point passed Microsoft during the session before pulling back.
SpaceX’s rally gets another push. The company said Tuesday it will acquire Anysphere, maker of AI code assistant Cursor, for $60 billion in stock. SpaceX plans to use Anysphere to bolster xAI’s position in business software. Cursor’s rivals include tools from OpenAI and Anthropic, two private AI names that are also seen as possible market entrants.
ARK bought shares across a handful of its exchange-traded funds, or ETFs—traded like stocks. The ARK Innovation ETF took on the most shares. The ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF ended up with the biggest percentage stake, Barron’s said.
ARK didn’t just add SpaceX. According to Seeking Alpha, ARK’s weekly recap listed sales of Tesla, AMD, Robinhood, Teradyne and some other stocks to free up cash for the SpaceX buy. Wood is moving more into Musk’s orbit while trimming exposure to chips, fintech, and automation.
ARK’s venture fund was in SpaceX before the IPO, after it first bought in during October 2023. ARK says its fund structure lets it hold private and public companies, so the listing only changed liquidity and price. The firm says the IPO didn’t force it to exit.
There is a risk here too. SpaceX posted $18.67 billion in 2025 revenue but a net loss of $4.94 billion, according to Reuters earlier this month. The IPO valuation put the company at a price-to-revenue multiple well above most big public names, while much of the AI business plan depends on projects still under construction.
“It’s a $2.5 trillion company, but it certainly feels like one of those meme stocks,” Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading, told Reuters. Saluzzi said investors should be cautious with names that trade on momentum. Reuters
Cursor doesn’t have the size of OpenAI or Anthropic, but Matt Britzman at Hargreaves Lansdown said its coding models are strong for the price. He called SpaceX’s Cursor buy a positive.
Musk took it up a notch Sunday, saying he’d be surprised if SpaceX revenue isn’t above $1 trillion by 2031. That’s much higher than what Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have modeled for 2030, according to a Reuters report.
Wood’s move fits with ARK’s usual playbook—building up big bets in what it calls platform companies. Robby Greengold at Morningstar, who tracks ARK, told Business Insider the shop has strong conviction about its picks, but “the range of outcomes is wide.” Business Insider
