CZ’s $500 million investment in Elon Musk’s 2022 Twitter buyout may now be sitting on a near 10x paper gain, at least under a simple proportional estimate. The key assumption is that outside shareholders of X collectively hold about 5% of SpaceX, while SpaceX is reportedly targeting an IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion.
Bloomberg and CNBC reported that Musk completed the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in October 2022. CZ, founder of Binance, was among the earliest outside backers. Binance committed $500 million at the time, framing the investment as a way to connect social media with Web3. Years later, with Twitter rebranded as X, that stake is being re-evaluated through SpaceX’s much larger valuation base.
Why X shareholders’ SpaceX exposure matters
Bloomberg estimated that early Twitter shareholders collectively own roughly 5% of SpaceX. If SpaceX were to list at the widely discussed $2 trillion valuation, that slice would imply a value of about $100 billion. Compared with the roughly $10 billion originally contributed by the outside investor group, the paper appreciation is substantial.
Using the same proportional math, CZ’s $500 million investment represented about 5% of the outside investors’ total capital. That would place his indirect SpaceX-linked exposure at around $5 billion. This is where the “10x return” narrative comes from. It is a headline number, but still only an estimate.
The real return depends on terms the market cannot see
The report makes clear that CZ has not publicly confirmed any such return. It also notes that outsiders do not know whether the share exchanges involved preferred stock structures, management issuances, or other dilution terms. Final performance would depend on the IPO pricing, conversion mechanics, and the actual capitalization table rather than a straight percentage alone.
Other early investors are also being used as reference points. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal first bought Twitter shares in 2011 for $130 million, then rolled about $1.9 billion of holdings into Musk’s 2022 transaction. He later invested another $400 million to $800 million into xAI. Argaam reported that his combined holdings across X, xAI, SpaceX, and Starlink are now valued at $9.2 billion.
Other investors have started to show visible gains
Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber said in an interview that his Twitter investment had returned “two to three times,” and that he plans to sell at least half of his position after SpaceX goes public. A more direct benchmark came from Blue Owl Capital. In late April, the firm disclosed that its SpaceX investment had already generated a 10x return, and that it sold half of the position when SpaceX was valued at $1.25 trillion. Blue Owl shares rose 10% on the day of that disclosure.
As for the listing timeline, the source material says SpaceX submitted its IPO filing on April 1, 2026. The company is targeting a valuation of $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion, aiming to raise $75 billion by selling about 5% of its shares, with pricing expected in mid-June. If completed on those terms, it would rank among the largest IPOs ever attempted.