At least ten Trump administration officials have been disclosed as holding shares in SpaceX or xAI, with holdings reaching as high as $25 million. Officials from the Department of the Interior, special envoys, and the Federal Reserve Chair are among those involved; some received ethics waivers, while newly appointed Fed Chair Kevin Warsh was compelled to divest his holdings. SpaceX, simultaneously a major federal contractor having secured a $6.5 billion contract from the U.S. Space Force, has raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest. Ethics experts described the situation as 'perhaps legal, but not best practice.'
As SpaceX's initial public offering (IPO)—the largest in history—draws near, multiple senior U.S. government officials have been revealed to hold stakes in the company or its affiliates. This deep entanglement of interests is raising widespread concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
According to Bloomberg, recently disclosed financial filings show that at least 10 officials from the Trump administration hold equity in SpaceX or xAI, its artificial intelligence and social media subsidiary. These officials include envoys, the Federal Reserve Chair, ambassadors, and heads of multiple federal agencies.
SpaceX’s IPO could launch as early as next week, with a target valuation of no less than $1.8 trillion and a planned fundraising amount as high as $75 billion, potentially setting a new record for the largest public offering in global capital markets history. Government ethics attorneys note that what makes this IPO unusual is not only its unprecedented scale but also the intricate web of interests between SpaceX and the federal government—the company is a major government contractor, having secured $4 billion in federal contracts in fiscal year 2025 and an additional $6.5 billion order from the U.S. Space Force last month.
Reilly Steel, Associate Professor at Columbia Law School, stated, "I can’t think of another IPO in recent years that involved so many senior government officials with financial stakes."
Multiple Officials Hold Stakes in SpaceX and xAI; Federal Reserve Chair Forced to Divest
According to U.S. federal officials’ financial disclosure filings, Paul McInerny, Chief Information Officer at the Department of the Interior, holds the highest-valued SpaceX stake among all reporting officials, with a reported value ranging from $5 million to $25 million. McInerny previously worked as a software engineer at SpaceX, contributing to early missions of the Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket, and partially reduced his holdings between 2024 and 2025, realizing proceeds between $1 million and $5 million.
Envoy Steve Witkoff indirectly holds SpaceX shares through his interest in 3G Investors LLC, valued at $1 million to $5 million. The fund’s sole publicly disclosed holding is SpaceX. Witkoff currently leads multilateral peace negotiations concerning Ukraine, Gaza, and Iran.
Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the Small Business Administration, holds xAI shares through a fund managed by Valor Equity Partners, with a reported value of $1 million to $5 million. The fund was founded by Antonio Gracias, a longtime partner of Elon Musk, and is also one of SpaceX’s largest shareholders after Musk himself.
Other officials reporting related assets include Michael Lynch, Deputy Administrator of the General Services Administration, who holds SpaceX shares valued at $500,000 to $1 million; and Stacey Feinberg, U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg, who holds xAI shares worth $500,000 to $1 million through a fund managed by 1789 Capital, whose partners include Donald Trump Jr. Additionally, U.S. Ambassadors to Ireland, the Czech Republic, and Portugal have each reported holdings in either SpaceX or xAI.
Notably, not all officials holding such assets have been permitted to retain them. Kevin Warsh, who succeeded Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair last month, reported an interest in a fund linked to Duquesne Family Office that has indirect exposure to SpaceX. In his ethics filing, Warsh explicitly stated that he would divest the relevant holdings before formally assuming office.
“Perhaps legal, but not best practice,” multiple intersections raise concerns over conflicts of interest
SpaceX has multiple business intersections with the Department of the Interior: the National Park Service uses Starlink services, and SpaceX previously applied to the Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service for permission to construct near a protected area. The Department of the Interior is also a contracting client of SpaceX.
Scott Amey, General Counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, stated that this arrangement is “perhaps legal, but not best practice,” adding, “The best practice is to divest entirely to eliminate even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Government ethics attorneys noted that the unusual nature of this incident far exceeds that of the IPO itself. Caleb Burns of the law firm Wiley Rein LLP described SpaceX as a “unique event” with “no historical precedent”—the largest IPO in history, led by Elon Musk, who maintains close ties to the president and, through DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), has effectively engaged with nearly every federal agency.
Editor/Liam