Foreign media reported Goldman Sachs bankers earned hefty fees handling SpaceX’s
June IPO, but a larger payoff was seeded more than five years earlier when the
bank helped high-net-worth clients buy into SpaceX. People familiar said clients
who sold shares at SpaceX’s $1.77 trillion IPO valuation realized substantial
gains and paid Goldman hundreds of millions of dollars in incentive fees.
Goldman partners were able to invest alongside clients, meaning some current and
former top executives may also have realized sizable profits.