SpaceX President Sells $52.5M in Stock Ahead of Starship Launch

Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, unloaded $52.5 million worth of company shares on September 22, just before Monday's planned Starship flight — the vehicle's first orbital attempt.

According to TipRanks, this marks the first notable insider sale at SpaceX since the company made its Nasdaq debut in June.

Inside the SpaceX Share Sale

A September 24 SEC filing reveals Shotwell began by exercising stock options, which permit an employee to acquire shares at a predetermined, earlier price.

She picked up 342,170 shares at prices ranging from $8.40 to $19.40 apiece, spending roughly $4.5 million. On the same day, she disposed of the entire lot via Morgan Stanley at around $151 to $155 per share.

As noted in the filing, the trades were executed under a Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted on June 23. Such plans lock in sale instructions in advance, preventing an executive from timing transactions based on non-public information.

Shotwell Retains Roughly $830M in Holdings

Post-sale, Shotwell owns 2.47 million Class A shares directly and another 3.11 million through two family trusts. Based on Friday's closing price of $148.68, that position is valued at about $830 million.

The sale represented roughly 6% of her total holdings. She also retains 575,005 options that have not yet been exercised.

JUST IN: SpaceX President sells over $50M worth of $SPCX

— Kalshi Finance (@Kalshi_Finance) September 26, 2026

Why the Timing Raises Eyebrows

Starship Flight 14 is scheduled for Monday at 7:15 a.m. Central time from Starbase, Texas, per SpaceLaunchLive. The mission, carrying 26 Starlink internet satellites, is the rocket's debut attempt to achieve a stable orbit.

Starship Flight 14 has its launch license! All go for Monday!https://t.co/lRC3NXhsMZ pic.twitter.com/AMndKjmq69

— NSF – NASASpaceflight.com (@NASASpaceflight) September 26, 2026

Of note, the launch date has already been pushed back once. SpaceX originally targeted September 22 for the flight, a news that pushed SpaceX stock up 6%.

Shotwell's trading plan was set three months before the flight date was announced. A bigger source of upcoming supply is the lock-up expiration, which restricts early investors from selling for certain intervals after the IPO.

Some 328 million shares became tradeable on September 24, and the stock dropped more than 4% the prior day, according to BeInCrypto. Additional unlocks are slated through June 2027.

The 33 analysts tracked by TipRanks give SpaceX a Moderate Buy rating, with a mean price target of $232.07 — roughly 56% above Friday's close.

Still, SpaceX shares are trading about 34% below their peak of $225.64. Monday's launch and the next unlock represent the stock's two upcoming catalysts.