The $20 Billion Bet on SpaceX That Never Flinched

Fishner-Wolfson, founder of 137 Ventures, first entered the aerospace market in 2011 when SpaceX held a modest $1 billion valuation. While peers and insiders often trade shares for liquidity, he maintained his position throughout the company’s meteoric rise to a $1.77 trillion valuation. His firm now holds more than 1% of the total equity, a massive windfall that stands in contrast to the typical churn of Silicon Valley venture cycles.

The foundation for this long-term conviction was laid during his time as a junior investor at Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. Following a catastrophic launch failure, Fishner-Wolfson questioned company leadership about their path forward. The response—a simple commitment to build another rocket—convinced him that the technical setbacks were secondary to the underlying mission. That initial $20 million investment has since transformed into a career-defining asset, proving that in a volatile sector, the most effective strategy is often the refusal to exit.