SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has long wanted Warren Buffet as a shareholder. That wish has finally materialised indirectly. According to a report by Business Insider, as of June 30, Berkshire Hathaway owned about 0.04% of SpaceX, a stake worth over $800 million. The position stems from Berkshire’s 0.9% stake in Alphabet, which itself held about 4% of SpaceX, valued at $94 billion at the end of June. Berkshire’s proportional claim on Alphabet’s assets translates into its indirect SpaceX holding. While Alphabet’s stake in SpaceX is now worth about $79 billion, Berkshire’s share of that has slipped closer to $700 million following recent declines in Alphabet and SpaceX stock prices.
An indirect stake through Alphabet
As of June 30, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway indirectly owned about 0.04% of SpaceX, a stake worth more than $800 million based on Business Insider’s calculations. This so-called “look-through stake,” a term Buffett himself coined, exists because Berkshire owns part of Alphabet, which in turn owns part of SpaceX.Berkshire disclosed a roughly 0.9% stake in Alphabet, worth about $38 billion, in its second-quarter portfolio update on Friday. Alphabet, in its own portfolio filing, revealed it owned about 4% of SpaceX, a position worth $94 billion as of June 30. Since Berkshire’s stake in Alphabet represents a proportional claim on Alphabet’s underlying assets, that includes a slice of Alphabet’s SpaceX holding as well. Berkshire’s piece of that $94 billion position was worth roughly $815 million at the end of June, though it had slipped closer to $700 million by Tuesday’s market close, following share-price declines for both Alphabet and SpaceX during the quarter.
A small stake for Berkshire, a bigger one for Alphabet
In the context of Berkshire’s overall size, this is a negligible position, the company held about $1.3 trillion in total assets at the end of June, including $324 billion in stocks. But from Alphabet’s side, the SpaceX stake is far more consequential: at roughly $79 billion today, it represents about 2% of Alphabet’s total market value, making it a material holding for the search, advertising and AI giant, one Berkshire will likely be watching closely given how large its own Alphabet position has grown.Buffett, who stepped down as Berkshire’s CEO at the start of the year but remains chairman and the company’s largest shareholder, first established the Alphabet position in the third quarter of 2025. In less than a year, Alphabet had become Berkshire’s third-largest stock holding, trailing only Apple and American Express. Tesla, SpaceX and Berkshire did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
‘Maybe Buffett should invest in Tesla haha’
Musk, CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX, has repeatedly called for Buffett’s backing on X over the years. In 2024, he posted that Buffett taking a position in Tesla would be an obvious move. In 2023, he lamented that Buffett hadn’t invested when Tesla was worth a fraction of its current value, and separately referenced a 2008 lunch with Buffett’s late business partner Charlie Munger, suggesting Munger could have invested in Tesla when it was valued at around $200 million. As far back as 2021, Musk had floated the idea more casually, joking that Buffett should maybe invest in Tesla.Buffett never did. He instead backed Tesla’s Chinese rival, BYD, for roughly seventeen years, from 2008 to 2025. There’s similarly no indication Berkshire has made any direct investment in SpaceX, which completed a high-profile public market debut in June.
Why Buffett’s restraint isn’t surprising
Buffett’s reluctance fits his long-standing investment philosophy: he’s known for favoring mature, predictable businesses he can understand deeply, rather than companies pursuing ambitious, capital-intensive bets. Tesla and SpaceX both carry steep valuations and are racing to build everything from humanoid robots and self-driving cars to spacecraft designed to carry people to Mars. Even with Abel now at the helm as CEO, a direct SpaceX investment appears unlikely in the near term, since it would represent a significant departure from the investing approach Buffett built Berkshire around.
Elon Musk and Warren Buffett ‘s history goes back years
Elon Musk and Warren Buffett’s history goes back years, marked by a mix of admiration and friendly disagreement. Musk has praised Buffett’s track record and quoted him during Tesla earnings calls, while also questioning some of his investing principles and describing Buffett’s approach to studying companies and allocating capital as, in his words, “super boring,” in contrast to his own focus on building products and businesses.Buffett, for his part, has taken his own gentle jabs at Musk while also expressing admiration for what he’s accomplished with Tesla. Speaking at Berkshire’s 2023 shareholder meeting, Buffett described Musk’s approach as a dedication to solving the impossible, adding that Musk manages to pull it off every now and then, something Buffett said would be torturous for him or Munger to attempt. Munger echoed the sentiment at the same event, joking that he and Buffett were looking for the easy job. Musk welcomed the comments at the time, posting on X that he appreciated the kind words from both of them.
No direct bet on SpaceX
Despite Berkshire’s indirect stake, there is no sign Buffett has directly invested in SpaceX, which had its blockbuster public‑market debut in June. With Buffett stepping down as CEO earlier this year and Greg Abel now leading Berkshire, analysts say a direct SpaceX bet remains unlikely given Buffett’s preference for mature, predictable businesses.
