Unsealed Records Show Foreign Investors Secretly Bought SpaceX Stakes

Court records unsealed by ProPublica reveal that investors from China, Hong Kong, Russia, and Qatar secretly acquired stakes in Space Exploration Technologies Corp. between 2018 and 2021. These investments were routed through Tomales Bay Capital, a U.S.-based middleman firm that packaged stock into funds for overseas clients.

Among the investors was David Su, co-founder of the Beijing-based venture capital firm MPCi, whose entity invested $15 million in 2020. MPCi maintains ties to Chinese military contractors, state-backed aerospace efforts, and companies sanctioned by the U.S. for assisting Iran and the Wagner Group. Additionally, entities linked to the Qatari royal family invested between $48 million and $58 million, some of which flowed through Bracket Ventures Management.

These disclosures follow the June 12, 2026, initial public offering of SpaceX. During the IPO, the company barred investors from China and Hong Kong, citing regulatory and security risks. While SpaceX previously permitted Chinese investments routed through offshore hubs like the Cayman Islands, the U.S. government has warned that such financial channels can be used for espionage and technology theft.