Trump bought SpaceX shares two weeks after blockbuster IPO
techcrunch ·
President Donald Trump purchased up to $50,000 worth of SpaceX shares on June 23, according to a financial disclosure first reported by Reuters, two weeks after the company's record-setting initial public offering. The exact price Trump paid is unclear, but the stock had dropped from highs above $200 to the mid-$150 range by then, and later closed at the IPO price of $135, potentially leaving his investment underwater. Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have a close relationship despite a brief falling out last summer involving accusations over withheld Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein. SpaceX has gained increasing government contracts and benefited from the Trump administration's deregulatory stance, as noted by a Wall Street Journal analysis. White House spokesman Davis Ingle stated that the president's stock portfolio is managed by third-party financial institutions and replicates recognized indexes like the Schwab 1000. SpaceX had lobbied popular indexes to change their rules for faster inclusion before its IPO, meaning many investors likely hold the stock unknowingly.
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