Ark Invest Snaps Up $500M+ in SpaceX Shares on IPO Debut Day

The buying activity was likely financed by trimming other portfolio positions, according to data. ARK remains one of the most prominent Bitcoin bulls, with a long-term price target reaching into the million-dollar range by 2030.

ARK Invest acquired nearly 3.3 million shares of SpaceX (SPCX) as Elon Musk’s company debuted in what was described as the largest IPO in history on Friday, building a position worth over $500 million by the close of trading.

The shares were priced at $135 in the offering and finished the first trading session at $160.95, marking a gain of more than 19% on day one.

In the days leading up to the listing, Cathie Wood’s firm sold close to $280 million worth of equities, followed by additional Friday sales of roughly 948,000 shares across 13 companies—including Advanced Micro Devices, Roku, and Baidu—valued at at least $48 million, according to daily disclosures.

The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) accounted for the majority of the SpaceX accumulation, ending the session with a 3.28% allocation to the stock.

The strong nearly 20% debut rally in the largest IPO on record reflects renewed institutional appetite for high-growth, high-volatility innovation assets. While Bitcoin remains the highest-beta asset in the group, investor attention has recently shifted toward a surge of AI and space-related public listings, with firms like OpenAI and Anthropic also moving toward IPOs.

Since capital is finite, even a well-known Bitcoin advocate like Wood rotating toward equities suggests that near-term liquidity may continue flowing away from crypto markets.

ARK’s internal models assign SpaceX a $2.5 trillion valuation by 2030 in its base case, with a bull scenario reaching about $3.1 trillion, based on a prior private valuation of $350 billion in 2024.

Alongside its equity strategy, ARK also manages a spot Bitcoin ETF, and Wood has consistently remained one of the most vocal long-term Bitcoin proponents, with price projections extending into seven-figure territory.