By Evie Liu

One of Elon Musk's biggest fans is leaning heavily into his latest public listing.

Cathie Wood's ARK Invest funds held roughly 3.29 million shares of SpaceX by the end of June 12, the day the rocket-and-satellite company went public. The purchase, one of Wood's most aggressive public-market moves in years, was spread across several ARK exchange-traded funds.

The ARK Innovation ETF was the largest holder, owning nearly 1.69 million shares worth $325 million as of Monday's close. ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF has the largest exposure, as SpaceX shares make up 6.8% of the fund's portfolio. The ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF also bought the stock as one of their top holdings.

It's unclear whether those shares were received as an IPO subscription before trading began, or bought in the open market after SpaceX started trading. And it's unclear at what price ARK bought those shares.

ARK trimmed some existing holdings, including Tesla, to make space for the new stock. But the firm still holds a large Tesla position, as it continues to treat the electric-vehicle maker as one of its highest-conviction artificial-intelligence and autonomy bets. In the flagship ARK Innovation ETF, Tesla is still the top holding, making up 10.4% of the fund.

With the latest purchase, Wood's bet on Musk has broadened. In ARK's investment thesis, both Tesla and SpaceX are not just leading industrial businesses, but mega platforms where manufacturing scale, proprietary software, AI, and control over critical infrastructure could turn expensive hardware into high-margin technology networks.

Wood is known to be comfortable with valuations that traditional investors often find difficult to justify. In ARK's view, Tesla is not just an electric-car maker, but a potential robo-taxi, robotics, and energy-storage company. The company expects Tesla stock, currently trading around $411 per share, to reach $2,600 by 2029.

In a Morningstar interview earlier this year, Wood said that forecast did not include Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot, implying that there might be additional upside driven by robotics development.

Likewise, SpaceX is not just a rocket company, but a satellite-internet, defense, and orbital-infrastructure business. ARK said SpaceX had been its Venture Fund's largest holding, representing roughly 17% of net assets as of March 31. While the IPO's $1.75 trillion valuation looks extreme on current revenue, it is "grounded in a plausible trajectory," according to ARK.

The ARK Innovation ETF has gained 22.6% over the past 12 months, partly driven by Tesla's 25% gain. While SpaceX gives Wood another Musk-led platform to own directly, the risk of concentration in her funds should not be ignored.

Write to Evie Liu at evie.liu@barrons.com

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June 19, 2026 21:31 ET (01:31 GMT)

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