Scottish Mortgage cut its SpaceX holding by 21.6% in August, the month its borrowings fell by £0.56bn

Between 31 July and 31 August 2026, the number of SpaceX shares held by Scottish Mortgage fell from 37,366,000 to 29,298,632, a 21.6% cut to the holding in one month. The same month, the trust's borrowings fell from £1.54bn to £0.98bn, and its net liquid assets rose from £4.4m to £256.6m. Opulion reading: in August, the recycling of SpaceX capital announced in the quarterly video of 13 October went hand in hand with lower debt.

On 13 October, Baillie Gifford posted Scottish Mortgage's third-quarter video update, shared on 22 October on the trust's official LinkedIn page. Its written description says the trust is recycling capital from winners such as SpaceX into a new generation of opportunities. The figures, absent from that description, are in the trust's monthly documents, which make it possible to measure what was sold, when, and what the cash position did that same month.

What the monthly valuations show

Scottish Mortgage publishes the full valuation of its portfolio, line by line, with the number of shares held in each listed company. At 31 July, the SpaceX holding comprised 37,366,000 shares worth £3,010,104,447, or 18.1% of total assets. At 31 August, it comprised 29,298,632 shares worth £3,106,199,560, or 17.5%. The number of shares fell by 8,067,368, while the value of the holding rose by £96m: the implied price per share, value divided by number of shares, rose from £80.56 to £106.02, up 31.6% in one month (Opulion calculation).

Over the quarter, SpaceX's weight fell from 25.7% of total assets at 30 June to 18.1% at 31 July, 17.5% at 31 August and 15.0% at 30 September, according to the monthly factsheets and valuations. In value terms, the holding went from about £4.81bn to about £2.80bn (Opulion calculation: 25.7% of £18.71bn, then 15.0% of £18.67bn). The number of shares at 30 June could not be found and the number at 30 September has yet to be published: the split of this decline between sales and share price can only be measured for August. Our brief of 22 October noted that the trust's documents did not say how much of the September decline came from any sales. For August, the answer can be read in the valuations at 31 July and 31 August.

Why August

SpaceX has been listed on Nasdaq since 12 June 2026, at an IPO price of $135. Shares held by existing shareholders, Scottish Mortgage among them, remained blocked by a lock-up period. According to the offering presentation filed with the SEC on 4 June, this period lifts in stages, starting with the publication of second-quarter results and running to 180 days after the IPO, except for part of the shares of certain investors, locked up for longer. SpaceX published its second-quarter accounts on 4 August. The final prospectus of 11 June sets the timetable, already summarised by the trust's briefing note from the draft prospectus: up to 20% of locked-up shares released on the second full trading day after those results, a further 10% if the closing price was at least 30% above the IPO price on five of the ten trading days up to the results day, then 7% on 20 August, 9 September, 24 September, 9 October and 24 October, 28% after third-quarter results and the balance on 8 December.

Opulion reading: a 21.6% cut to the holding in August is consistent with the first 20% tranche, available from 6 August, the second full trading day after the results, topped up by the 7% tranche of 20 August. If the additional 10% tranche applied, the first tranche alone accounts for this figure. The managers describe this mechanism in their answers to shareholders, dated September: shares are being released from lock-up in stages, allowing the trust to reduce the position gradually. The proceeds of the sale remain unknown. Valued at the implied price of end-July or end-August, the shares sold represent £650m to £855m (Opulion calculation: 8,067,368 × £80.56, then × £106.02). The actual price depends on the days of sale, which remain unknown.

Where the money went

The monthly factsheets and valuations describe the trust's cash position in August. Borrowings at par fell from £1.54bn to £0.98bn, a reduction of £0.56bn. Gross gearing fell from 10% to 6% of shareholders' funds, net gearing from 10% to 4%. Net liquid assets rose from £4.4m to £256.6m, according to the valuations, p. 4. Share buybacks, by contrast, slowed: £131.9m in August, against £340.6m in July and £240.2m in September (Opulion calculation on the 63 buyback notices published from 1 July to 30 September).

These movements go beyond the SpaceX holding alone: the trust has other purchases and sales, which the quarterly data pack will detail. But the orders of magnitude are clear: in August, debt fell by £0.56bn, net liquid assets rose by £252m, and buybacks dropped to £131.9m. Over the whole quarter, the trust bought back 48,884,948 shares for about £712.6m, or 4.46% of the shares in issue excluding treasury shares at 30 June (Opulion calculation on the 63 buyback notices, checked against the voting rights notices of 1 July and 1 October).

What it changes for shareholders

At 30 June, a quarter of the trust's assets sat in a single listed holding, still fully subject to the lock-up. At 30 September, SpaceX weighs 15.0%, and net gearing 4%. Concentration fell by 10.7 points in a quarter, through sales, share price movements and changes in the rest of the portfolio, three effects that the documents published to date separate for August alone. Net asset value per share, with debt at fair value, rose from 1,613.00p at 30 June to 1,726.85p at 30 September, up 7.1% (Opulion calculation), despite the decline of the largest holding. Opulion reading: the trust has turned part of its largest holding into room to manoeuvre, with less debt, more cash, and space for the new generation of opportunities the video announces without naming them.

The next tests

For Scottish Mortgage shareholders, three milestones will settle matters, in order. In early November, the valuation at 30 September will give the number of SpaceX shares held at the end of the quarter, and so the September sales. The half-year results, made up to 30 September and expected in early November if the 2025 timetable is repeated, and the third-quarter data pack will name the purchases and sales. In early December, if the publication pace holds, the valuation at 31 October will give the number of shares held after the October tranches, including the 28% tranche released after the results of 20 October. The last test will take longer: what the recycled capital earns, once the debt has been repaid.

How we counted

Numbers of shares and values of the SpaceX holding: portfolio valuations at 31 July (published 3 September) and 31 August (published 2 October), page 2. Net liquid assets: valuations at 31 July and 31 August, page 4. Total assets, borrowings, gearing and SpaceX's weight: monthly factsheets for June, July, August and September. Implied price: value of the holding divided by the number of shares, in sterling, different from the share price in dollars. Estimated proceeds: shares sold multiplied by the implied prices of end-July and end-August, a range, distinct from a realised price. Buybacks: sum of the 63 Transaction in Own Shares notices from 1 July to 30 September, shares multiplied by the published price, excluding costs. The total of 48,884,948 shares matches, to the share, the change in treasury shares between the voting rights notices of 1 July (389,704,074) and 1 October (438,589,022). Lock-up timetable: SpaceX's offering presentation filed with the SEC on 4 June 2026, the final prospectus (424B4) dated 11 June 2026, which sets the dates of the tranches, and the trust's briefing note on SpaceX, updated on 22 May, which summarises a draft prospectus.