Antonio Gracias turned a $2 million check into what may be the single greatest venture return in history. Now he wants to do it again.
The founder and CEO of Valor Equity Partners, who holds roughly 7% of SpaceX through more than 500 million Class A shares, is sitting on a stake valued between $65 billion and over $100 billion following the company’s June 2026 IPO. And rather than coasting on generational wealth, Gracias is raising approximately $2.5 billion through Valor’s Fund VII to deploy into the sectors he knows best: artificial intelligence, energy, and space.
From early Tesla checks to a $100B position
Gracias first invested $2 million into Tesla back in 2006, then followed up with a similar bet on SpaceX in 2008, when both companies were existential coin flips.
He joined Tesla’s board in 2007 and served until 2021. He’s been on SpaceX’s board since 2010.
