Harvard Management Co. has revealed a $2.2 billion stake in SpaceX, according to a regulatory filing, underscoring how the university’s endowment has benefited from an early investment in Elon Musk’s rocket company.
The disclosure came in a quarterly 13F filing on Friday, which also showed that SpaceX is the largest single stock in Harvard’s $4.3 billion US equity portfolio. The university managed roughly $57 billion in assets as of June 2025, the most recent public figure.
SpaceX’s IPO in June, which broke records, has produced outsized gains for college endowments that had invested through venture capital firms, sometimes more than a decade ago. The University of California’s investment arm reported a position worth roughly $1 billion in a filing this week, while the University of North Carolina and Washington University in St. Louis have also benefited.
Harvard’s holding may reflect both directly owned shares and distributions from private funds, according to the filing. Patrick McKiernan, a spokesman for Harvard Management, declined to comment on individual investments.
The windfall comes at a time of financial pressure for US universities, which face threats to federal research funding, demographic changes that have resulted in fewer students of college age, and muted returns from private equity. Endowment funds with more than $500 million returned a median of 18.9% before fees in the year ended in June, based on data from the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.
SpaceX, now valued at more than $1.8 trillion, has seen its shares fluctuate since the IPO priced at $135. On Friday, the stock fell 0.9% to close at $140.
The filing is part of a requirement that money managers with more than $100 million in US equities disclose their holdings in exchange traded stocks within 45 days of each quarter’s end.
