In brief : RIT Capital Partners held SpaceX as an unlisted investment, valued twice a year. With SpaceX’s initial public offering in June 2026, the holding moved from an estimated value to a market price. A real-world case to understand what changes when a portfolio company goes public.

RIT Capital Partners is a London-listed trust of around £3.2bn, invested in quoted equities, uncorrelated strategies and private assets, which made up 33% of its portfolio in mid-2026. It is therefore not a pure private equity trust, but it holds unlisted companies directly.

RIT invested in SpaceX in 2024 and added to its position in 2025. At 31 December 2025, the holding was valued at £102.3m, or 2.5% of net assets, based on a December 2025 secondary sale that valued SpaceX at $800bn. In February 2026, the merger with xAI valued SpaceX at $1,000bn.

SpaceX filed its IPO prospectus on 20 May 2026 and listed on 12 June 2026, at $135 per share. According to QuotedData, the holding generated an unrealised gain of more than £100m for RIT in the first half of 2026. By early August, the shares had fallen back to $108.27.

As long as a company is unlisted, its value in a trust’s accounts moves in steps: at each funding round or secondary transaction, and at valuation dates, here twice a year. Between two steps, the reported value does not move.

An IPO changes the nature of the holding. RIT says it moves from its private pocket to its quoted equity pocket, and is now valued daily at market price, with a discount applied during the lock-up period, when the shares cannot be sold.

Two lessons. First, an IPO can reveal a large gap with the last private valuation, upwards or downwards. Second, the holding becomes volatile: its price changes every day, as the fall in the shares after listing showed.

Transaction-based valuation :
An unlisted company is often revalued based on the price of a funding round or a share sale.

Lock-up :
The period after an IPO during which existing shareholders cannot sell their shares.

Initial public offering (IPO) :
The moment a company’s shares start trading on a market: its value becomes a daily price.

Illiquidity discount :
The reduction applied to the value of a security that cannot be sold immediately.

Sources : RIT Capital Partners, SpaceX key facts, 8 June 2026 – QuotedData, RIT half-year results, 6 August 2026

AVERTISSEMENT
This article is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.