Nvidia has revealed one of the largest investment secrets of this earnings season: a nearly $21 billion stake in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The disclosure on Friday, in a new SEC filing, makes SpaceX the second-largest investment for the chipmaker after Intel.
For a company that regularly sees its displays of market-leading revenue and profits steal the show, this one was notable not only for the size but also the circumstances of the stake in the rocket company, and what it says about the deepening of the relationship between the world’s most valuable chipmaker and the world’s most valuable rocket company.
How Nvidia Came to Own Shares of SpaceX
Nvidia’s stake in SpaceX was not directly purchased by the chipmaker. According to the SEC filing, as well as people familiar with the matter, it was the result of a $10 billion commitment Nvidia made to xAI, Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, as part of a larger $20 billion funding round in January 2026. When SpaceX acquired xAI in February in a $1.25 trillion deal, Nvidia’s shares in the startup were converted into SpaceX equity.
As of June 30, 2026, that roughly translated into 122.8 million Class A shares of SpaceX, worth about $21 billion at quarter’s end. It’s a striking return on capital: Nvidia’s original $10 billion, according to the filing. The value of the xAI investment, which was made in less than a year earlier, has since grown to one of the largest investments on Nvidia’s balance sheet.
SpaceX’s Blockbuster IPO Was the Catalyst
The timing of the disclosure is intrinsically linked to the recent listing of SpaceX on the Nasdaq. The rocket company’s IPO, which was priced at $135 a share and selling 555.6 million Class A shares to raise roughly $75 billion, was the largest in history. It valued SpaceX at around $1.77 trillion. Shares surged nearly 19% on their first day of trading, briefly pushing the company’s market value above $2 trillion.
That compares to the closing price of $170.86 is the benchmark Nvidia used to value its position for the quarter. Since then, however, SpaceX stock has cooled considerably. Shares closed at $140 on Friday, which means that the value of Nvidia’s stake has since decreased to around $17.2 billion. Not that it has affected the chipmaker’s resolve to keep a sizable position in the rocket company, which is now a public limited company.
Nvidia’s Relationship With SpaceX Goes Beyond a Simple Investment
Unlike many of the other large investments that are made by Nvidia, the relationship with SpaceX is not purely transactional. Elon Musk has stated that SpaceX will use exclusively Nvidia hardware for its artificial intelligence infrastructure going forward. According to the CEO’s remarks on the second-quarter earnings conference call this month, SpaceX expects to get a significant allocation of the Vera Rubin GPUs that Nvidia will release in 2027.
Those comments are important, as SpaceX has been building out its own AI infrastructure to support the needs of xAI. The company has reportedly signed multi-billion dollar compute leases with other AI firms that use its Nvidia GPUs, including one contract that is said to be worth more than a billion dollars per month. This means that Nvidia is not only an investor in SpaceX but also set to become its largest supplier of chips as the rocket company enters the competitive AI model infrastructure space.
Where Does SpaceX Rank in Terms of Nvidia’s Investments?
Intel remains Nvidia’s largest investment, according to the SEC filings, with a roughly $30 billion at the end of the quarter (though that too has fallen from roughly $30 billion stake in the chipmaker, as of lower levels since. The combined value of Nvidia’s stakes in Intel and SpaceX would be worth more than $50 billion, illustrating the scale of the chipmaker’s commitment to securing its supply chains and partnerships in the broader semiconductor and AI infrastructure space.
Within the ranks of SpaceX’s shareholders, Nvidia would barely make the top five. Elon Musk still remains the largest shareholder with a roughly $850 billion and $907 billion stake, worth between $78 billion to $94 billion, depending on the period, which would give him voting control of more than 82% of the company. Alphabet is the second-largest shareholder with a roughly $21 billion to roughly $94 billion investment, according to FactSet research. Nvidia is ranked around sixth in terms of the largest disclosed shareholders for SpaceX.
Wall Street Was Not Surprised by the Disclosure
Despite the sheer size of the investment, the revelation of Nvidia’s stake in SpaceX did not send shockwaves through the markets. In fact, in the after-hours trading on Friday, the shares of SpaceX were up by around 0.35%, while those of Nvidia were down by 0.12%.
That speaks to the general understanding on Wall Street that the chipmaker had already taken a sizable position in SpaceX through its investment in xAI, which had been publicly known for some time. The exact value of that position, however, was not disclosed until now.
What Does It Mean for Nvidia’s Shareholders?
For the shareholders of Nvidia, the disclosure of the $21 billion SpaceX stake is a reminder that the chipmaker’s balance sheet contains not only cash, inventory, and other liquid assets but also large investments in other firms that are crucial to the AI ecosystem. In addition to Intel, which supplies Nvidia with chips, SpaceX is now seen as a strategic partner by the chipmaker, as it is set to become one of the largest suppliers of AI model infrastructure to the industry.
Those shareholders should also be aware that the value of those investments is marked-to-market and can change significantly from quarter to quarter, as illustrated by the recent drop in the value of the SpaceX stake. The investment in the rocket company, which was worth around $17.2 billion as of June 30, 2026, has dropped by nearly $5 billion since its peak in early 2026.
In the coming months, analysts will be watching closely whether Nvidia’s stake in SpaceX will continue to be viewed as a financial investment or if it will start to transform into a strategic supply relationship. Another factor that will be important for Nvidia’s shareholders is how much SpaceX’s shares will fluctuate as a result of its IPO and listing on the Nasdaq.
