- ARK Invest built a stake of nearly 3.3 million SpaceX shares worth more than $500 million on the day of the company’s record-setting IPO.
- Cathie Wood’s firm sold more than $325 million of stock across at least 13 companies in the days around the listing.
- ARK’s shift of risk capital from crypto toward high-growth names like SpaceX, alongside its $2.5 trillion base-case valuation target for the company by 2030, underscores how institutional investors are favoring AI and space IPOs over digital assets in the near term.
ARK Invest bought nearly 3.3 million shares of SpaceX (SPCX) as Elon Musk's company went public in the largest IPO ever on Friday, building a stake worth more than $500 million by the end of the day.
The shares, priced at $135 for the sale, closed at $160.95, rising more than 19.2% on their first day.
The Cathie Wood-owned firm liquidated almost $280 million of stock in the week before the listing, then sold another roughly 948,000 shares across 13 companies worth at least $48 million on Friday, including Advanced Micro Devices, Roku and Baidu, according to daily emailed statements over the period.
The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) did the bulk of the buying, ending the day with SpaceX at 3.28% of its portfolio.
A first-day pop of almost 20% on the largest IPO in history signals institutions are paying up for high-beta innovation risk again. While bitcoin is the highest-beta asset in the group, the hottest trade in the market is now a wave of AI and space listings, with OpenAI and Anthropic also filing to go public.
