Former Sequoia Capital managing associate Roelof Botha joined SpaceX’s board lower than per week after the corporate went public within the largest IPO in historical past.
SpaceX introduced the appointment Wednesday in a submitting with the Securities and Change Fee. The newspaper mentioned Botha was appointed “to fill an present emptiness on the board of administrators” and can serve till SpaceX’s subsequent annual normal assembly. He may also be part of the Audit Committee of the SpaceX Board of Administrators. Botha didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Mr. Botha “brings in depth public firm expertise, together with a deep background on audit committees, having served on the boards and audit committees of quite a few public corporations,” SpaceX mentioned within the submitting. He stepped down from his function as Sequoia’s chief late final yr as the corporate grappled with backlash towards associate Sean Maguire, who made feedback attacking then-New York Metropolis mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani.
The SpaceX submitting additionally reveals that Mr. Botha’s “members of the family” have labored for the corporate “as members of the enterprise operations group since January 2025.” SpaceX mentioned the household’s “compensation exceeded the reporting threshold of $120,000,” however mentioned their compensation was “roughly equal to that of their friends.”
Mr. Botha serves on the boards of many public corporations, however none like SpaceX, the place CEO Elon Musk has near-absolute management and shareholders have little energy. Musk owns greater than 80% of the corporate’s publicly traded voting energy, severely limiting SpaceX stockholders’ alternatives to problem him in the event that they disagree along with his actions. Musk additionally has the authority to manage any adjustments to the composition of the board of administrators, in keeping with the submitting.
However Botha has expertise with Musk. In 2000, Mr. Musk employed Mr. Botha, additionally from South Africa, to go PayPal’s finance division. Botha joined the funds firm in March of that yr, in keeping with his LinkedIn profile. Musk was ousted as CEO of PayPal in September 2000.
“I’ve recognized Elon for over 25 years,” Botha instructed Fortune journal in an interview final yr when Musk was working DOGE. “He was the primary particular person to supply me a job in America. He believed in me once I was an unknown pupil at Stanford College. I significantly recognize and perceive that he’s not excellent. None of us are excellent. He cares deeply about doing the proper factor.”
With the addition of Botha, SpaceX’s board of administrators now has 9 members. He joins Musk’s confidants Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio Gracias, Steve Jurvetson and Luke Nosek. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX Chief Working Officer. Google government Donald Harrison. and VC Randy Grain. Mr. Musk is the Chairman of the Board.
Botha has labored with Sequoia for greater than 20 years, and the corporate invested in SpaceX in 2019. Botha reportedly owns 1.5% of SpaceX heading into the IPO, a place value greater than $20 billion.
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