Google's Round: How 900 Million Turned Into 94 Billion Dollars
The technology giant Alphabet, Google's parent company, is known primarily for its dominant search engine and cloud services. However, an official report recently filed by the company with US authorities reveals that it also functions as a prominent investor in the market. The report presents for the first time the scope of Google's investment in Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, which has become one of the largest investments in its portfolio.
The technology giant Alphabet, Google's parent company, is known primarily for its dominant search engine and cloud services. However, an official report recently filed by the company with US authorities reveals that it also functions as a prominent investor in the market. The report presents for the first time the scope of Google's investment in Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, which has become one of the largest investments in its portfolio.
The Investment That Turned Into Billions
According to the report, Google first invested in SpaceX in January 2015, when it acquired a stake of about 7.5% in the company for about 900 million dollars, based on a company valuation of 12 billion dollars. Since then, the company has undergone additional funding rounds that diluted Google's stake, but the value of SpaceX has surged sharply. Following the company's offering last June, it was revealed that Google currently holds more than 551 million shares of SpaceX, whose value is estimated at 94.18 billion dollars.
This early investment has recorded an increase of more than 8,000% in its value since 2015, and it currently constitutes about 95% of Alphabet's entire public investment portfolio. Out of this position, shares worth about 80 billion dollars are subject to short-term sale restrictions, while the remainder of the company's shares are blocked from sale until the third quarter of 2027.
The Next Bet on Artificial Intelligence
SpaceX is not Google's only success in the investment market. The company was also one of the early investors in Anthropic, the developer of the artificial intelligence model "Claude". Google acquired a 10% stake in the company in April 2023, and has since injected billions of additional dollars, including commitments for large follow-on investments in 2026. Today, Alphabet holds an estimated stake of about 14% in Anthropic, whose value may exceed 120 billion dollars.
According to the investment consulting firm The Motley Fool, Google's ability to identify successful investment opportunities at early stages, as it did in the past with the acquisition of YouTube, is becoming one of its most significant growth engines. Alongside its absolute dominance in the global search market and the growth of cloud services, Alphabet's thriving investment portfolio establishes its position as one of the leading companies in the world.
