Did Google Quietly Build A $350B Venture Empire Around SpaceX, Anthropic And Waymo?

Three of Google's earliest outside bets, in SpaceX, Anthropic and Waymo, now carry a combined value above $350 billion after a record stock market debut.

Key Points:

SpaceX IPO Swells Google Stake

SpaceX went public on the Nasdaq on Jun. 12, and the rocket maker raised about $75 billion in the largest initial public offering ever recorded. Shares climbed 19% on their first day, closing near $161 and pushing the market value above $2 trillion. The listing also made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

Alphabet, Google's parent, wrote a $900 million check in 2015 for close to 7% of the company, then valued at $12 billion. That stake has now swelled to somewhere near $140 billion on paper, a return of roughly 150 times.

The ties between the two firms run deeper than the early bet. Google recently agreed to pay SpaceX about $920 million a month for AI computing power through 2029. That deal feeds revenue back to the rocket company even as Google profits from its rising shares.

Also Read: Kraken Launches 5X Perps On OpenAI And Anthropic Pre-IPO

Anthropic And Waymo Bets Climb

The same pattern runs through Google's private holdings. The company holds about 14% of Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot, a stake worth roughly $135 billion at the lab's latest $965 billion valuation.

Google has since committed up to $40 billion more to Anthropic, deepening one of the biggest bets in AI. A separate February round valued Waymo, the robotaxi arm it still controls, at $126 billion. That unit now runs paid driverless rides across several U.S. cities and is eyeing Tokyo and London.

Returns Reshape Alphabet's Books

Investors have begun treating Alphabet partly as a venture fund. Its private marks swing every quarter, and a single revaluation can rival the profit from the search business.

The effect already shows in the accounts. Alphabet posted a record profit in the first quarter of 2026, and a large share of it came from writing up private stakes led by Anthropic rather than from selling ads. The SpaceX listing now adds a public, and far more volatile, line to that same ledger.

Read Next: CFTC Hires Blockchain Forensics Specialist As Chief Data Innovation Officer