Before SpaceX IPO, investors in China secretly acquired stakes
This title could be clearer and more informative.Try out Clickbait Shieldfor free (5 uses left this month).
A ProPublica investigation reveals that investors with ties to Chinese military contractors and the Qatari royal family secretly acquired stakes in SpaceX while it was still private, through a US middleman firm called Tomales Bay Capital. At least a dozen investors from mainland China, Hong Kong, or Russia bought stakes ranging from $800,000 to $40 million between 2018 and 2021. One notable investor, David Su of Beijing VC firm MPCi, invested $15 million in 2020; his firm also backed SpaceX competitors, two of which were later sanctioned by the US government. SpaceX recently barred Chinese and Hong Kong investors from its record-breaking IPO — the largest ever — citing regulatory and compliance risks.
