While it’s a great school, my undergrad alma mater — Washington University in St. Louis — hasn’t always had a lot to cheer about when it comes to athletics.
When I was enrolled in the early 2000s, the women’s basketball and volleyball teams were Division 3 national championship contenders. We had some elite swimmers. But it was far from the type of rabid environment you might find at a D1 school.
Given the recent exploits of the school’s investment chief — specifically in relation to SpaceX — it might finally be time Wash U to announce a ticker-tape parade.
The grand marshall can be Wash U CIO Scott Wilson, who, according to Bloomberg, turned a $50 million investment in SpaceX into a position worth billions. Wash U’s SpaceX holding now makes up more than 10% of the school’s $17 billion in assets.
If they’re going to celebrate at Wash U, they might as well make it a national occasion, since schools all across the US find themselves in a similar situation.
The University of North Carolina system — which includes 17 schools — has about 10% of its assets in SpaceX, while Stanford also boasts a “sizable” position, according to the WSJ. Vanderbilt, meanwhile, is sitting on a holding of about $171 million, Bloomberg found.
These schools all gained exposure to SpaceX the same way: through venture capital firms and private-market funds, which have grown in popularity in recent years.
While it’s hard to characterize these investments as anything but a resounding success, there are a couple of key caveats.
First, it’s possible that these SpaceX positions have gotten too big for the liking of university CIOs. The company’s valuation compounded so quickly in the private market that it was like a runaway train. Sure, they’ll take the gains any day. But they’ll also likely look for ways to trim or hedge, to reduce concentration risk, ahead of what’s expected to be a volatile public-trading debut for SpaceX.
Second, these are still just paper gains. Taking profit and using those proceeds freely is another story entirely, considering legal restrictions in place for school endowments.
But overall, investing in SpaceX has been an unabashed boon for universities, which is ironic considering CEO Elon Musk hasn’t exactly been the biggest supporter of higher education. He said in 2024 that “college is overrated,” and included a comment about how we need more electricians, plumbers, and carpenters.
So what will Wash U do with its SpaceX riches? Might I suggest bringing Taco Bell back to the student-center food court? An alum can dream.
