UNC Endowment's Early SpaceX Bet Drives 30% Return

UNC's entry came through a commitment of just a few million dollars to a fund that backed SpaceX, according to people familiar with the matter. The endowment sold about $1 billion of the position before the IPO and still holds more than $1 billion in the company. University officials declined to comment.

The arithmetic is straightforward. The $1 billion sale before the IPO alone represents a return of well over 100 times the original commitment, which ran to just a few million dollars. The remaining stake, still worth more than $1 billion, adds another layer of gains on top of that.

The University of North Carolina Management Co. ran almost $15 billion in assets as of March 31. The Chapel Hill campus endowment accounts for nearly half of that figure. Gains flow across the state through the UNC System, and the manager also oversees money for UNC Press and Winston-Salem State University.

The remaining SpaceX position is worth more than $1 billion, roughly one-eighth of the Chapel Hill endowment's value at the end of March. At $114.92, the unsold stake has given back part of its paper gain since the June listing. A stake that size gives the company an outsize weight in the school's portfolio.

Max Chapman, former chair of the Chapel Hill Investment Fund board, said the outcome fits the standard pattern of venture portfolios. "You make five or 10 investments and hope one of them will work," said Chapman, an undergraduate alumnus of UNC. "This one has worked very well."

The strong returns arrive as large universities face financial pressure on multiple fronts. Federal research funding faces threats, and the pool of college-age students is shrinking. Private equity positions have turned in muted performance. Endowments with outsized tech and energy holdings now have more room to absorb those strains.

Individual schools will report their own figures over the coming weeks and months.