A modest venture capital bet placed over 15 years ago has turned the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill into one of the best-performing endowments in America. The school’s fund posted returns exceeding 30% for the fiscal year ending June 2026, driven overwhelmingly by an early investment in SpaceX routed through Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
To put that in perspective, the broader universe of US university endowments posted median returns between 12.7% and 18.9% over the same period.
From a few million to billions
The UNC Management Company, which oversees investment strategy for the entire UNC system, initially placed just a few million dollars into the Founders Fund allocation that included SpaceX exposure. That was more than a decade and a half ago, when Elon Musk’s rocket company was still a speculative bet on reusable space travel.
At its peak, SpaceX grew to represent roughly 10% of the entire UNC system’s assets.
UNCMC managed nearly $15 billion in total assets as of March 31, 2026. Chapel Hill’s endowment accounts for almost half of that figure.
Ahead of SpaceX’s IPO on June 12, 2026, the fund sold approximately $1 billion worth of its holdings, locking in gains before the company went public. Even after that sale, UNCMC retained more than $1 billion in SpaceX stock post-IPO. Shares have since traded below the $135 IPO price, which makes the decision to trim pre-listing look well-timed.
The internal debate that almost changed everything
Former UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp publicly stated that he advised against increasing the SpaceX allocation.
A new playbook for endowments
Chapel Hill isn’t alone in finding outsized returns through early-stage tech bets. The University of Michigan has drawn similar attention for its investment exposure to OpenAI, which has exploded in value as the artificial intelligence sector has matured.
Venture capital is illiquid, meaning you can’t easily sell positions when you need cash. It’s opaque, with valuations that are often more art than science until a liquidity event like an IPO. And it requires access to top-tier funds, which is itself a scarce resource. Founders Fund doesn’t take capital from just anyone.