Topline<\/p>\n
A Canada-based teachers\u2019 pension fund could earn a massive return of up to $11 billion on a private investment of about $220 million it made in billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX seven years ago.<\/p>\n
SpaceX is planning to go public this week. (Photo by Michael Yanow\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
NurPhoto via Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n
The Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan invested<\/a> about $220 million in U.S. dollars in SpaceX in 2019, when the company was valued somewhere between $33 billion and $36 billion, The Globe and Mail reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n SpaceX is hoping for a $1.75 trillion initial public offering valuation with shares priced at $135 each, which would make the Ontario Teachers\u2019 investment worth $11.6 billion, the Globe and Mail reported, citing unnamed sources.<\/p>\n The Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan is Canada\u2019s largest<\/a> single-profession pension plan with $279.4 billion in net assets as of the end of 2025, covering<\/a> 346,000 working and retired teachers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear, though, what Ontario Teachers\u2019 will do with its stake in SpaceX, as its chief investment officer Gillian Brown<\/a> said in March the IPO is not necessarily \u201ca target exit point,\u201d adding the fund may wait to see whether SpaceX\u2019s acquisition of Musk\u2019s xAI will position the company for \u201canother potential leg of venture-like growth.\u201d<\/p>\n In March, the Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan reported a 6.7% return on investments in 2025 and a 30% surge in its venture growth portfolio, largely thanks to its investment<\/a> in SpaceX, even as it posted its first private equity loss since 2009.<\/p>\n Forbes has reached out to the Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan for comment.<\/p>\n surprising fact<\/p>\n The Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan has previously lost out on investments, notably a major investment it made into the ill-fated FTX cryptocurrency exchange in 2022. The fund made an investment of $95 million into FTX, and after the company filed for bankruptcy, Ontario Teachers\u2019 said<\/a> it would write its investment down to zero but claimed the loss would have \u201climited impact on the Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n what to watch for<\/p>\n SpaceX is planning to debut<\/a> on Nasdaq on Friday. Some analysts have suggested SpaceX is overvalued, including those at Morningstar<\/a>, who believe SpaceX is worth less than half of its IPO target.<\/p>\n forbes valuation<\/p>\n Musk\u2019s net worth is $796.3 billion as of Monday morning, according to Forbes estimates<\/a>, making him the wealthiest person<\/a> in the world by a margin of about half a trillion dollars. Musk owns about 41% of SpaceX and 12% of Tesla. A SpaceX IPO at a valuation of $1.75 trillion could make Musk the world\u2019s first trillionaire, Forbes<\/a> previously reported. <\/p>\n key background<\/p>\n In 2019, long before SpaceX acquired xAI and when the company was just starting to launch its Starlink satellites, the Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan announced a major investment<\/a> into Musk\u2019s space company. The investment was the first made by the pension fund\u2019s Teachers\u2019 Innovation Platform, now called the Teachers\u2019 Venture Growth, which the pension fund says invests in late-stage technology companies. At the time of the initial investment, the teachers\u2019 fund praised SpaceX as the \u201cworld\u2019s leading private space launch provider,\u201d adding it looked forward to working with the company as it rolled out its Starlink satellite technology. Ontario Teachers\u2019 has since made follow-up investments into SpaceX, though the Globe and Mail reported it is unclear how many investments it has made and what the value of its stake is now. <\/p>\n further reading<\/p>\n