Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), the investment vehicle controlled by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has witnessed extraordinary gains in its SpaceX shareholding, with the stake surging to approximately $6.8 billion (SAR 25.6 billion) following the aerospace company’s landmark Nasdaq listing on 12 June 2026.
The astronomical valuation represents a substantial uplift from the stake’s carrying value of $4.47 billion (SAR 16.76 billion) recorded at the end of March, implying unrealised appreciation in excess of $2.3 billion in the space of mere days. SpaceX shares opened trading at the initial public offering price of $135 before rallying nearly 19 per cent to close at $160.95 on their debut day, significantly enhancing the value of KHC’s 42.4 million Class A common shares.
The performance underscores the investment acumen that has characterised KHC’s long-term engagement with the Musk ecosystem. The Saudi firm first acquired a stake in Twitter, now rebranded as X, as far back as 2011, subsequently expanding its exposure through investments in the artificial intelligence venture xAI. Following a series of corporate restructurings and integrations, these various holdings were ultimately consolidated into SpaceX Class A common stock, positioning the firm to capture the extraordinary returns generated by the aerospace and satellite communications giant’s ascent to the upper echelon of global enterprise valuations.
The Nasdaq listing is expected to prompt material changes to how KHC reports this investment in its financial statements. In its submission to Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, Tadawul, KHC disclosed that the commencement of active trading will precipitate a reclassification of the asset from Level 3 to Level 1 under the IFRS 13 fair value hierarchy. This shift reflects the now-available publicly quoted market price, permitting KHC to determine its SpaceX stake’s value using observable exchange-traded pricing at the conclusion of each reporting period, rather than reliance upon proprietary internal valuation methodologies.
The magnitude of the gains should be tempered by certain constraints on the firm’s liquidity position. KHC’s SpaceX shareholding remains subject to a 180-day lock-up period, in accordance with the offering’s standard terms, precluding any near-term disposition of the shares. This restriction is a customary safeguard imposed upon early-stage shareholders in newly listed companies to ensure orderly price discovery and mitigate volatility risks.
Perhaps most striking has been the spillover effect upon the principals involved. The SpaceX Nasdaq debut has delivered a historic windfall for founder Elon Musk, whose holdings have now exceeded the trillion-dollar threshold, making him the first individual in recorded history to amass a fortune of this magnitude derived primarily from publicly traded equity. The rally has equally fortified Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s position, with Forbes estimating his current net worth at $26 billion as of mid-June 2026, positioning him among the world’s most prominent wealth aggregators.
The SpaceX listing itself constitutes the largest initial public offering in Wall Street’s storied history. The aerospace giant raised an unprecedented $75 billion in its offering, dwarfing the previous record of $29.4 billion set by Saudi Aramco in 2019. The company’s management adopted an unconventional methodology, eschewing the traditional Wall Street bookbuilding process in favour of a fixed pricing model at $135 per share, which resulted in an initial valuation of approximately $1.77 trillion.
Institutional demand for the offering proved to be extraordinarily robust, reportedly exceeding the available share allocation by several multiples. This exceptional appetite precipitated a sharp rally when trading commenced. Shares opened at $150, climbed as high as $176, and ultimately settled at $160.95 on the first day of trading, lifting SpaceX’s market capitalisation to roughly $2.1 trillion by close of business. This valuation instantly placed the company amongst the world’s most valuable public enterprises, a remarkable achievement for a firm that, until 12 June 2026, had remained privately held for more than two decades.
KHC was ranked 56th on the Forbes Middle East 100 Most Valuable Companies 2026 list, a testament to its strategic focus upon transformational investment opportunities within the technology, satellite communications, and emerging technology sectors. The firm’s willingness to take calculated stakes in early-stage ventures and emerging market leaders has proven to be a hallmark of its investment philosophy, yielding the sort of outsized returns exemplified by its SpaceX position.