Zillow Group has just reported an eye-popping $1 billion in annual revenue — but the Seattle-based real estate data company’s CEO, Spencer Rascoff, has another milestone to celebrate.
One of the private ventures that he invests in, California-based SpaceX, pulled off a successful maiden launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket on Feb. 6. The test launch put a Tesla Roadster into deep space, and put the Falcon Heavy into the record books as the world’s most powerful rocket in operation.
“Awesome to see the private sector step in to fill the void in space exploration left by our government,” Rascoff said in a tweet. (In fairness, we should note that NASA’s Space Launch System is due to surpass the Falcon Heavy on the power scale when it launches for the first time in 2019 or 2020.)
In a follow-up email exchange, Rascoff told GeekWire that he invested in SpaceX in a private funding round last year. (The total raised during last year’s Series H round amounted to nearly $450 million.)
Rascoff declined to go into further detail about the investment, which is typical in such situations. However, he provided additional insight about the kinds of companies he invests in, and why.
