'Like 15 Years of Zen Meditation': Quietly Betting on SpaceX for 30 Trillion Won Jackpot

"On Friday, the stock could quadruple, or it could be cut in half."

On Friday (local time), as Elon Musk's space company SpaceX approaches the "IPO of the century," Wall Street is buzzing with excitement over whether the jackpot myth of early-stage investors will finally become a reality.

While many Silicon Valley giants have made a name for themselves as Elon Musk's close friends, followers, and major backers, The New York Times (NYT) introduced a venture capitalist who is quietly smiling among them.

He is Justin Fishner-Wolfson (44), who set up an office without a sign for "137 Ventures" in San Francisco.

His connection with SpaceX dates back to 2008.

At the time, the 26-year-old Fishner-Wolfson was the most junior employee in the SpaceX investment department at Founders Fund, led by legendary Wall Street investor Peter Thiel.

Back then, SpaceX's business concept of reusable rockets traveling back and forth into space and eventually exploring Mars was considered "somewhere between a dream and a joke."

In particular, SpaceX, founded in 2002, was so little-known at the time that a hand-drawn sketch of a future rocket was pinned to a whiteboard in the Founders Fund office.

Fishner-Wolfson was not entirely convinced about SpaceX at first.

In August 2008, SpaceX launched its third reusable rocket from the Marshall Islands. As Fishner-Wolfson watched the live broadcast, the rocket was engulfed in flames and crashed just two minutes after liftoff.

At the time, Fishner-Wolfson had already poured $20 million (30.4 billion won at the current exchange rate), representing 10% of the previously raised fund, into SpaceX.

However, Fishner-Wolfson's bosses remained completely unfazed and continued to support SpaceX. The NYT reported that the $20 million investment is now worth billions of dollars.

Three years later, Fishner-Wolfson declared his independence and founded the investment firm "137 Ventures."

While he also invested in startups like ride-hailing company Uber, his main focus was SpaceX.

He even went so far as to use a crane and remove windows just to install a used SpaceX rocket engine at the entrance of his office.

Fishner-Wolfson has been buying up SpaceX shares whenever possible for 15 years since 2011, and now owns more than 1% of the total shares.

This stake is worth $20 billion (30.4 trillion won) based on SpaceX's expected IPO valuation of $1.77 trillion.

Reflecting on those days, Fishner-Wolfson said, "Twenty years ago, no one would have predicted this outcome."

Fishner-Wolfson confessed that there were many moments of doubt and hesitation when he stood at a crossroads, wondering whether to stop investing.

These moments included when SpaceX launched Starlink as a satellite internet service, and when Musk's personal life or political activities made headlines, emerging as investment risks.

However, Fishner-Wolfson reportedly did not sell a single share of SpaceX.

He attributed the secret of his perseverance to learning how to "ignore" news related to Musk.

"Who Elon is dating at any given point is not particularly relevant to the business of SpaceX," Fishner-Wolfson said.

Fishner-Wolfson also assessed that he has achieved a certain level of mastery in mental discipline through Zen meditation.

However, when asked if he ever offers personal advice to Musk, he paused for 19 seconds before delaying his answer, according to the NYT.

"You can say whatever you want to say. He may or may not change his mind," Fishner-Wolfson said, adding, "The conversations are usually short."

(Photo: Captured from 137 Ventures website, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.