Alphabet’s decade long investment in SpaceX has emerged as one of the technology giant’s most valuable corporate bets, transforming a relatively modest 2015 investment into a stake worth about 94.1 billion dollars.

Alphabet invested 900 million dollars in SpaceX in 2015, when the rocket company was valued at roughly 10 billion dollars. Although subsequent fundraising diluted its ownership, Alphabet retained a sizeable position and became SpaceX’s largest individual institutional shareholder after its June 2026 public debut.

SpaceX’s IPO raised approximately 85.7 billion dollars, with shares beginning trading on June 12 at a valuation of about 1.8 trillion dollars.

Consequently, Alphabet’s investment value surged, although the gain remains largely unrealised because the company has not sold the shares. At the end of June, Alphabet held about 551.2 million SpaceX shares valued at 94.1 billion dollars.

The investment also played a major role in Alphabet’s second quarter financial results. The company reported 119.8 billion dollars in revenue and 112.1 billion dollars in net income, while its “other income” recorded a 98 billion dollar gain, driven mainly by unrealised gains on equity investments.

However, the figures require careful interpretation. Unlike cash generated from operations, unrealised investment gains can rise or fall with market prices. Indeed, SpaceX shares have already moved below their June quarter end level, reducing the current value of Alphabet’s holding.

Meanwhile, Alphabet continues to strengthen its core businesses, with Google Cloud revenue jumping 82 percent to 24.8 billion dollars in the second quarter, as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure and solutions accelerated.

The SpaceX windfall therefore highlights both the upside of patient corporate investing and the caution required when investment gains significantly influence reported profits.