Scottish Mortgage cuts SpaceX stake and exits Tesla after 13 years

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has sold the last of its Tesla shares. It has also sharply reduced its stake in SpaceX, cashing in on two of the most successful long-term bets in its history.

The trust is managed by Baillie Gifford and was one of the early institutional backers of both Elon Musk companies.

The numbers behind the exit

The Tesla position lasted 13 years. Scottish Mortgage fully exited in the second quarter of 2026. It had put approximately $470 million into the electric carmaker and walked away with approximately $6.2 billion in realized profits, roughly a 13x multiple.

SpaceX held its initial public offering on June 12, 2026. Scottish Mortgage had first invested around $200 million in 2018, and that stake grew to roughly $5 billion by the time of the listing.

Earlier in 2026, SpaceX made up more than 25% of the trust’s assets. By the end of September, that figure was 15%. By early November, it had fallen to 11.1%.

The trust sold shares as lock-up periods expired following the IPO. Even after the trimming, SpaceX remains Scottish Mortgage’s largest holding.

Strong half-year results

The portfolio changes landed alongside the trust’s half-year results, released on November 6, 2026. The net asset value total return was 31.5% in the six months to the end of September.

The trust’s share price total return over the period came in at 33.8%. The FTSE All-World Index returned 16% over a comparable stretch.

The discount to net asset value also narrowed, moving to 7.9% from 9.5%.

Scottish Mortgage shares rose modestly on the day of the announcement amid a backdrop of volatility across the technology market.

Where the money went

The proceeds from selling Tesla and SpaceX did not sit idle. Scottish Mortgage used them in two main ways.

First, it cut its gearing. Gearing fell to approximately 4% from 11%.

Second, it bought back its own shares at scale. The trust repurchased about 72.9 million shares, worth approximately £1.06 billion, by the end of September.

The trust is also putting more emphasis on artificial intelligence companies, including Anthropic.

Background: a growth investor’s growth problem

Scottish Mortgage built its reputation on finding transformational companies early and holding them for years. Tesla and SpaceX are the clearest examples of that strategy working as intended.

The SpaceX IPO offered a natural exit point. Before the listing, the shares were private and difficult to sell. Once lock-ups expired, the trust could finally convert paper gains into actual cash.

What this means

For Scottish Mortgage shareholders, the main shift is lower concentration risk. A trust with 11.1% in one stock and modest borrowing behaves very differently from one with over 25% in a single name and gearing in double digits.

Investors should also keep an eye on how quickly the remaining SpaceX stake is reduced. The allocation fell from 15% to 11.1% in a matter of weeks.