Antonio Gracias, an Indian-origin investor and longtime Elon Musk ally, could emerge as one of the richest people on the planet if SpaceX goes public in what may become the world's largest IPO.
Reports state that Gracias and his investment firm, Valor Equity Partners, hold a 7.3% stake in SpaceX. This makes him the second, only to Musk, who holds 41%. If the company reaches a valuation of nearly $2 trillion after listing, Gracias' stake could be worth as much as $128 billion (around Rs 12 lakh crore).
Who is Antonio Gracias?
Gracias was born in Detroit, Michigan, to immigrant parents. He studied at Georgetown University, where he completed degrees in international economics and foreign service. He also spent time studying in Japan at Waseda University and later worked there with Nikko Securities. After that, he attended the University of Chicago Law School and earned his law degree in 1998.
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While still in law school in 1995, Gracias started an investment firm called MG Capital. That business later became the foundation for Valor Equity Partners. Prior to MG Capital, he was at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Over the years, Valor invested in several fast-growing technology companies, many linked to Elon Musk. These include Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, Reddit, Anduril Industries, and Zipline.
Gracias has shared a close friendship and business partnership with Elon Musk for more than 20 years. He was one of the early investors in Tesla. The two are believed to have met through Silicon Valley and PayPal networks following PayPal's sale to eBay. He served on the board from 2007 to 2021 and also worked as Tesla's lead independent director. Gracias continues to serve on the board of SpaceX and has also invested in Neuralink, another Musk-led venture.
Over the years, the two families became personally close as well. Reports say they went on family vacations together, including trips to magician David Copperfield's private island in the Bahamas. Gracias was also a groomsman at the wedding of Musk's brother, Kimbal Musk. During Musk's takeover of Twitter in 2022, Gracias reportedly helped communicate Musk's decisions and directions to employees. His firm has also been linked to fundraising efforts for xAI, Musk's AI startup.
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In 2015, former US President Barack Obama named him a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. In 2020, he donated nearly $500,000 to the campaign of Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee. In 2024, he donated $1 million to Musk-backed America PAC, which supported Trump's re-election campaign.
In 2020, he gave $1 million to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). In 2023, he donated $16 million to psychedelic research at Harvard University. He has also funded research projects in London and New York medical institutions. In 2022, through the Gracias Family Foundation, he donated $5 million to Georgetown University to create a scholarship program for students affected by the war in Ukraine.
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