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How regular rich people are buying into SpaceX

Private-market platforms are giving accredited investors new ways to buy pre-IPO companies like SpaceX

JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP via Getty Images

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A few years ago, the closest most people could get to a buzzy, private company like SpaceX was reading about it in the news.

Not anymore. In 2026, there are more ways in, and George got tired of just reading about it.

"I like tech, I like space," he said.

The Los Angeles-based entertainment professional, who asked to use a pseudonym, put $150,000 into a SpaceX special purpose vehicle (SPV) on Hiive, a marketplace that sells accredited investors access to private companies. He added $45,000 into xAI, which later got folded into the SpaceX position. By the start of July, the stake was worth $750,000. It's still locked up, with Hiive telling him they're still working out when that ends.

George doesn't have a finance background but said the money he put in was money he could lose if the investments didn’t work out. He said so far it feels like he got lucky with the two bets he made, in a corner of the market that still doesn't have much oversight.

"It's definitely something you have to be cautious of," he said.

Wall Street's velvet rope is fraying

Not long ago, this kind of access required already being rich, or already knowing someone, the kind of connections that got you a call with a company's CEO or CFO. Now a small industry of marketplaces, Hiive, Forge, and EquityZen among them, will sell an accredited investor a slice of a private company for a fee, no rolodex required.

The shares themselves usually come from........

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