Investors gain SpaceX pre-IPO access through RONB ETF

Baron Capital’s Baron First Principles ETF (ticker RONB) holds a significant position in SpaceX, offering public-market investors exposure to the private company before a potential June 2026 initial public offering that could value SpaceX near $1.75 trillion. The fund began building its stake in SpaceX in 2017 and presents shares through an exchange-traded fund structure available to retail investors.

Baron Capital applies a research approach it calls “First Principles,” which breaks businesses into core components to assess their growth drivers. The firm views SpaceX as a vertically integrated technology company that includes rocket manufacturing, the Starlink satellite internet service and related computing projects linked to Elon Musk’s AI initiatives. Starlink has passed 10 million subscribers, and Baron says the firm is developing the capacity to host computing and AI training in orbit on its satellites.

RONB lists SpaceX holdings as “less liquid” rather than “illiquid,” a designation the firm attributes to an active secondary market for shares and ongoing repurchase activity. Baron Capital says that status allows the fund to keep a concentrated position while offering investors the intraday tradability of ETF shares. The structure gives investors a way to hold SpaceX exposure without meeting private-investor qualifications.

Michael Baron, co-president and a portfolio manager at Baron Capital, remarked: “While Elon is controversial in the news, he’s not controversial with us. We started investing in Tesla back in 2014. It took us over two years to actually build that position, and we started investing in SpaceX in 2017.” He added that the firm views SpaceX’s upside beyond launch services to include its communications business and potential AI work in space.

Baron Capital highlights a direct relationship between its founder and SpaceX leadership as a factor in its assessment of liquidity and access. SpaceX has entered a quiet period as it approaches an IPO window, and the firm says the opportunity for pre-IPO exposure through public-market vehicles like RONB may narrow ahead of a listing.