A 5% stake in AI coding startup Cursor, sold by FTX's bankruptcy estate for $200,000 in April 2023, would now be worth approximately $3 billion following SpaceX's agreement to acquire the company at a $60 billion valuation. This development has brought attention to the significant gap between the initial sale price and the current valuation, with the stake's value increasing by roughly 15,000 times. The acquisition is part of Elon Musk's strategy to enhance SpaceX's AI coding capabilities, an area where the company currently lags behind competitors. The deal has also sparked controversy, with Sam Bankman-Fried arguing that the estate's decision to liquidate assets too quickly has resulted in significant losses for creditors.
The sale of the Cursor stake has become a prime example of the potential value that could have been realized if the estate had held onto its assets instead of selling them at a low point in the market.