Roelof Botha joins SpaceX’s board of directors

Former Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital Roelof Botha is joining SpaceX’s board of directors, less than a week after the company went public in the largest IPO ever.

SpaceX announced the nomination was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. It said Botha was appointed “to fill the existing vacancy on the Board of Directors” and will serve until SpaceX’s next annual shareholder meeting. He will also join the audit committee of the SpaceX board. Botha did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Botha “brings extensive public company experience, along with a deep audit committee background, having served on the boards of directors and audit committees of numerous public companies,” SpaceX wrote in the filing. Late last year, he stepped down from his role leading Sequoia as the company faced backlash against partner Shaun Maguire, who had made comments about then-New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

The SpaceX filing also shows that a “family member” of Botha “has been with the company since January 2025 as a member of the enterprise operations team.” SpaceX says this family member’s compensation “exceeded the $120,000 reporting threshold,” but noted that the compensation is “generally commensurate with their peers.”

Botha sits on many boards of publicly traded companies, but none compare to SpaceX, where CEO Elon Musk has near-absolute control and shareholders have little power. Musk has more than 80% of the voting rights of the now publicly traded company, and owners of SpaceX stock will have very limited ability to challenge him if they disagree with his actions. Musk also has control over any changes to the composition of the board, show files.

Botha does have experience with Musk. Musk brought in Botha – who is also from South Africa – in 2000 to lead PayPal’s finance department. Botha started at the payments company in March of that year, according to his LinkedIn profile. Musk was ousted as CEO of PayPal in September 2000.

“I have known Elon for over 25 years,” Botha said Fortune last year in an interview during Musk’s time at DOGE. “He was the first person to offer me a job in America. He believed in me when I was an unknown student at Stanford. I have a lot of appreciation and understanding for the fact that he is not perfect. None of us are. He cares about doing the right thing.”

The addition of Botha brings SpaceX’s board to nine directors. He joins Musk confidantes Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio Gracias, Steve Jurvetson and Luke Nosek; SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell; Google CEO Donald Harrison; and VC Randy Glein. Musk is chairman of the board.

Botha has been with Sequoia for more than twenty years and the company invested in SpaceX in 2019. property 1.5% of SpaceX will go public, giving it a position worth more than $20 billion.