SpaceX’s Record-Breaking $75 Billion IPO Delivers a $2.36 Billion Windfall to Saudi Prince

Kingdom Holding’s $2.36 Billion Paper Gain

The IPO’s most tangible ripple effect was felt 7,000 miles away on the Saudi stock exchange.

After the Nasdaq debut, Kingdom Holding disclosed in a regulatory filing that it owns 42.4 million shares of SpaceX Class A common stock, representing a 0.34% stake in the company . Based on the $160.95 closing price, the fair value of this holding stood at approximately $6.83 billion. Just months prior, in the company’s March 31, 2026, financial statements, the same stake had a carrying value of only $4.47 billion. The difference amounted to an unrealized gain of roughly $2.36 billion .

Prince Alwaleed’s holdings go beyond the corporate treasury. Alongside his private office, his combined stake in SpaceX totals 0.63% of the company . The prince personally owns 0.29%, which was valued at about $3.2 billion based on an earlier $800 billion valuation before the IPO .

The Ripple Effect on Saudi Markets

News of the combined stake sent Kingdom Holding’s own stock on a brief, intense rally. In early June 2026, shares surged nearly 10% on the Tadawul exchange following the initial disclosure . Over the course of two trading days, the stock spiked 21%, pushing the company’s market capitalization to a 10-year high of 53.44 billion Saudi riyals (~$14.25 billion) on June 11 .

Following the actual Nasdaq listing, Kingdom Holding shares rose by as much as 5% more, hitting a market cap of roughly 56 billion riyals ($14.9 billion) . However, this exuberance was short-lived. The stock remains far below its 2007 IPO price, and some analysts point out that the liquidity of the SpaceX stake—subject to a 180-day lock-up period—limits how much real value can be extracted in the short term .

How a Twitter Bet Became a SpaceX Jackpot

The origins of this windfall trace back to 2022 and a moment of corporate turmoil.

Prince Alwaleed and Kingdom Holding were among the largest shareholders in Twitter when Elon Musk moved to take the social media company private. As part of the $44 billion acquisition, rather than cashing out, Alwaleed agreed to roll his Twitter shares into equity of Musk’s private companies .

The decision was widely seen as a gamble on Musk’s broader ambitions at a time when those assets were deeply illiquid. That gamble paid off spectacularly when the portfolio expanded through Musk’s February 2026 merger of xAI into SpaceX, consolidating Alwaleed’s upside ahead of the public offering .

The Prince’s Fortune: A Decade-High

The IPO cemented a remarkable personal financial comeback for the prince, who had faced significant headwinds following Saudi Arabia’s 2017 anti-corruption crackdown.

His post-IPO net worth surged to approximately $24.5 to $24.7 billion, a figure not seen in over a decade. This placed him at 93rd on the Forbes billionaires list . While the gain is currently on paper and subject to market swings and lock-up restrictions, it represents one of the most extraordinary single wealth-creation events derived from the SpaceX ecosystem outside of Elon Musk himself.

The key numbers, for context, are clear: a $75 billion raise, a $2.1 trillion market cap, and a $2.36 billion unrealized gain for a prince who bet on the right billionaire at the right time .