Ark’s Cathie Wood lets retail investors bet on Elon Musk’s private startups and potentially profit from his proximity to Trump
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest is inviting retail investors to bet on Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s private startups and possibly profit from his newfound closeness to President-elect Donald Trump in the process.
Through its ARK Venture Fund, the firm is giving retail investors the chance to invest in companies that aren’t listed on public markets, it wrote in an email to subscribers, Business Insider reported. Among the companies it touted as part of its holdings were Musk startups such as space tech company SpaceX, social media company X, and xAI, the startup behind the chatbot Grok.
Musk’s ability as an entrepreneur was an asset to the fund, the firm wrote in the email.
“With the ARK Venture Fund, you have a rare opportunity to potentially benefit from Musk’s full breadth of leadership and his commitment to reshaping industries such as space exploration, artificial intelligence (AI), social platforms, and renewable energy,” the firm wrote.
Another benefit, Ark added, is Musk’s newfound “buddy-in-chief” status with Trump and his potential influence on policy.
“Musk’s recent involvement in U.S. policy discussions under the Trump administration is paving the way for a stronger environment for innovation in the United States. This support could potentially fuel his companies’ growth and amplify their ability to lead in key areas of technology and sustainability—putting ARK Venture Fund investors at the forefront of this transformative era,” the firm wrote in the email.
Among the fund’s holdings, which also includes competitors to some of Musk’s companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Figure AI, is 15% exposure to Musk’s non-public companies. The fund’s holdings include a 12.7% stake in SpaceX, a 1.5% stake in xAI, and a 0.7% in X Corp, according to its email.
While Musk has a proven track record as an entrepreneur, investing in startups is often much riskier than speculating on public companies. About 90% of startups fail over the long run for many reasons, including a lack of cash. And in the third quarter, startup funding was down 15% year-over-year and down 16% from the prior quarter, according to Crunchbase data. The relatively small size of the ARK Venture Fund’s check sizes could also limit retail investors’ returns, ARK Invest “futurist” and fund manager Brett Winton told BI.
Ark did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment.
Still, Musk’s outsized political access could be a gamechanger for his many startups once Trump takes office in late January. On Tuesday, the president-elect accompanied Musk during the launch of a SpaceX starship in Texas.
“Good luck to @ElonMusk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project,” Trump wrote in a reply to SpaceX’s tweet about the Tuesday rocket launch.
If Musk stays in Trump’s favor, he could push for softer regulations and changes at the regulators that oversee his biggest startup, SpaceX, including the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency has previously fined SpaceX for allegedly, “failing to follow its license requirements during two launches in 2023.”
Through Musk’s recently announced position on the Department of Government Efficiency, the world’s richest man could have leeway to cut government operations drastically to try to save money. In September, Musk threatened to sue the FAA and accused it of being biased against his company.
“I am highly confident that discovery will show improper, politically-motivated behavior by the FAA,” Musk wrote in a September post on X commenting on SpaceX’s impending lawsuit against the agency.
