SpaceX adds long-time Elon Musk ally Roelof Botha to board

Less than a week after leading SpaceX through a record IPO, CEO Elon Musk has bolstered the rocket maker’s board with another longtime friend and ally, Roelof Botha.

In a filing on Wednesday, SpaceX said Botha will serve as an independent director and a member of the company’s audit committee starting immediately. Botha becomes the eighth board member at SpaceX, where Musk serves as chairman, in addition to his roles as CEO and technology chief.

Since 2003, Botha has worked at venture firm Sequoia, eventually climbing his way to managing director in 2022, before stepping down from that position last year. He’s now an adviser to the firm and is listed on its website as part of the seed and early-stage team as well as the growth team.

Musk recruited Botha to PayPal in 2000 during the early days of the online payment company. Both men are from South Africa.

Sequoia has been a big backer of Musk’s companies, investing in SpaceX as well as Neuralink and The Boring Company. It also contributed to Musk’s leveraged buyout of Twitter, which is now known as X and is owned by SpaceX.

The firm first invested in SpaceX in 2019 and added to its position in future rounds, building up what now amounts to a stake of just under 1.5% valued at roughly $35 billion. Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire is the firm’s principal lead investor in SpaceX, and Botha is not representing Sequoia on the board.

Maguire told CNBC on Friday, as SpaceX was just about to debut on the Nasdaq, that Sequoia will distribute some shares to investors “if we feel like the valuation is way ahead of its skis.” He said that, “as an individual, I’m going to hold my shares forever.”

The filing also said Botha is related to a SpaceX employee, but didn’t name the person.

A Sequoia spokesperson declined to comment and a representative from SpaceX didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Musk ​controls more ⁠than 82% of voting rights at SpaceX and owns shares in the company worth over $1 trillion. The governance model gives outside shareholders little ability to exert influence.

Botha exited his oversight role at Sequoia last year as the firm was embroiled in controversy. The Financial Times reported that colleagues were critical of Botha’s management style, and he stirred up trouble with some investors by defending remarks made by Maguire that were widely criticized as Islamaphobic.

WATCH: SpaceX adds Sequoia’s Roelof Botha to board