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June purchase after IPO
U.S. President Donald Trump bought as much as $50,000 worth of SpaceX shares on June 23, according to a financial disclosure first reported by Reuters, placing a personal stake in Elon Musk’s company about two weeks after its record-setting IPO.
“President Donald Trump bought as much as $50,000 worth of SpaceX shares on June 23”
Reuters reported that the exact price Trump paid was not disclosed, but public trading data showed SpaceX shares were trading in the mid-$150 range on June 23 after falling from post-IPO highs of over $200.
By the close of trading on Monday, shares had settled at the IPO price of $135, potentially putting the president’s stake underwater, Reuters said.
BigGo Finance reported the filing was signed August 12 and released Friday, and said the purchase was among more than 1,000 stock trades made in the president’s portfolio during June.
BigGo Finance also said SpaceX completed its IPO on June 12 at a valuation of $1.77 trillion, the largest public debut in Wall Street history, turning Elon Musk into the world’s first trillionaire.
White House says portfolio blind
White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Reuters that the president’s stock portfolio is managed by third-party financial institutions and replicates “recognized indexes, such as the Schwab 1000.”
Ingle also said “Neither Trump nor any family member has the ability to direct, influence, or provide input regarding how the portfolio is invested or when investments are bought or sold,” according to BigGo Finance.
The Reuters account said the purchase came despite a reported falling out between Trump and Musk last summer, when Musk accused the president of withholding the Department of Justice’s files on Jeffrey Epstein due to the frequency with which Trump’s name appears in them.
BigGo Finance said SpaceX lobbied major indexes to change their rules to allow for faster inclusion ahead of its IPO, meaning many retail and institutional investors likely own some of the company’s stock indirectly through index funds.
The Latest news from Azerbaijan account similarly said the White House stated Trump does not personally control the portfolio and that Davis Ingle said third-party financial institutions independently manage the president’s investments and replicate recognized indexes.
Policy ties and market impact
The purchase created a financial link between Trump and Musk’s SpaceX, a U.S. military contractor that “regularly seeks federal agency approvals for rocket test flights and other projects,” BigGo Finance said.
“regularly seeks federal agency approvals for rocket test flights”
BigGo Finance reported that SpaceX has benefited from the administration’s deregulatory stance and that the company has been capturing an increasing share of government contracts, citing a recent Wall Street Journal analysis.
On Thursday, BigGo Finance said Trump instructed his team to help increase the number of U.S. commercial space launches, a sector where SpaceX holds a dominant market position.
BigGo Finance added that SpaceX stock dipped about 1% in afternoon trading on August 24 following news of the disclosure, after shares closed Monday at the IPO price of $135.
The Reuters-based accounts also said federal disclosure rules require officials to report asset values in ranges rather than exact amounts, with the filing listing the SpaceX position as between $15,001 and $50,000.