Beyond SpaceX: Our Private Portfolio and the Next Wave of Exceptional Companies
Chloé Darling-Stewart
- SpaceX may dominate the headlines. But it's not the only private company worth watching
- Beneath the surface sits a wider private portfolio shaping some of the most important frontiers in technology, healthcare and finance
- Scottish Mortgage opens the door to private companies most investors struggle to access – through a listed, low-cost investment trust
As with any investment, your capital is at risk.
Following a historic IPO, SpaceX tends to dominate the conversation. Understandably so. Scottish Mortgage’s early investment has become one of the most visible examples of what patient, long-term capital can achieve in private markets.
But SpaceX is not our whole story.
Under the surface sits a wider collection of ambitious, hard-to-access private companies: businesses building AI systems, payments networks, digital banks, consumer platforms, autonomous logistics and new approaches to drug discovery.
Some are already household names. Others are still quietly building before most public market investors have had the chance to notice.
That is what makes Scottish Mortgage’s private company exposure so distinctive: not just one extraordinary company, but a broader window into some of the world’s most interesting private businesses – through a listed, liquid, low-cost investment trust.
SpaceX may dominate the headlines. It does not define the whole private portfolio.
Look beyond SpaceX and a broader private company portfolio comes into view.
The Names You Know...
Anthropic, Databricks, Stripe, ByteDance and Revolut are names that have broken through into mainstream financial conversation – companies whose scale, growth rates and leadership have made them hard to ignore.
Combined, they represent trillions of dollars in private market value and some of the most consequential business models of the next decade.
What unites them is not just size, but the durability of their competitive positions – each has built something genuinely difficult to replicate.
For most investors, businesses like these remain difficult to access. Scottish Mortgage has held many of them for years – invested long before the valuations became headlines, and positioned to benefit from the compounding that patient, early conviction makes possible.
The Names You Might Not Know Yet…
Some of the most interesting private companies are the ones that have not yet become household names.
SpaceX may dominate the headlines. But it does not define the opportunity.
Beyond it sits a wider private portfolio spanning AI, fintech, logistics, biotech, quantum computing and consumer platforms – companies most public market investors cannot easily reach, and stories still being written.
The names may change. The idea remains the same: patient capital, early access and the possibility of owning exceptional companies before they become obvious.
Scottish Mortgage gives shareholders exposure to these exceptional companies through a liquid, low-cost investment trust.
Unrivalled Exposure: Private Companies Across Every Megatrend and Geography
Scottish Mortgage
Annual past performance to 31 March each year (%)
|
|
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
2025 |
2026 |
|
Share Price |
-9.5 | -33.5 | 32.5 | 6.0 | 26.8 |
|
NAV* |
-13.1 | -17.8 | 11.5 | 11.2 | 27.4 |
|
Benchmark** |
12.8 | -0.9 | 21.0 | 5.5 | 18.0 |
Performance figures appear in GBP, total return. NAV is calculated with borrowings deducted at fair value. *NAV = Net Asset Value. **FTSE All World Index (GBP) TR. Performance source: Morningstar and FTSE.
Past performance is not a guide to future returns.
Unlisted investments such as private companies, in which the Trust has a significant investment, can increase risk. These assets may be more difficult to sell, so changes in their prices may be greater.
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About the author - Chloé Darling-Stewart
Chloé Darling-Stewart is an Investment Specialist at Baillie Gifford. She joined the firm in 2013 and became part of the Scottish Mortgage Team in 2025. In her role, Chloé helps translate the Scottish Mortgage portfolio into clear, compelling insights for shareholders. She works closely with the investment managers, regularly engages with portfolio companies, and leads in-depth, insightful conversations with shareholders. Before joining the Scottish Mortgage Team, Chloé worked across Baillie Gifford’s regional equity strategies and played a key role in cultivating client relationships in the Nordic and Iberian regions.
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Baillie Gifford & Co and Baillie Gifford & Co Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The investment trusts managed by Baillie Gifford & Co Limited are listed on the London Stock Exchange and are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.
Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited (BGO) provides investment management and advisory services to non-UK clients. BGO is wholly owned by Baillie Gifford & Co. Both are authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Baillie Gifford Asia (Hong Kong) Limited 柏基亞洲(香港)有限公司 (BGA) holds a Type 1 licence from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong to market and distribute Baillie Gifford’s range of collective investment schemes and closed-ended funds such as investment trusts to professional investors in Hong Kong.
Baillie Gifford Asia (Singapore) Private Limited (BGAS) is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a holder of a capital markets services licence to conduct fund management activities for institutional investors and accredited investors in Singapore. BGA and BGAS are wholly owned subsidiaries of Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited, which is wholly owned by Baillie Gifford & Co.
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (the “Company”) is an alternative investment fund for the purpose of Directive 2011/61/EU (the “AIFM Directive”). Baillie Gifford & Co Limited is the alternative investment fund manager (“AIFM”) of the Company and has been authorised for marketing to Professional Investors in this jurisdiction.
This communication is made available by Baillie Gifford Investment Management (Europe) Limited (“BGE”), which has been engaged by the AIFM to carry out promotional activities relating to the Company. BGE is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as an AIFM under the AIFM Regulations and as a UCITS management company under the UCITS Regulation. BGE also has regulatory permissions to perform promotional, advisory and Individual Portfolio Management activities. BGE has passported its authorisations under the mechanisms set out in the AIFM Directive.
Australia
This information is provided to you on the basis that you are a “wholesale client” within the meaning of section 761G of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (“Corporations Act”). In no circumstances should this information be made available to a “retail client” within the meaning of section 761G of the Corporations Act. This information contains general information only. It does not take into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs.
Belgium
The Company has not been and will not be registered with the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (Autoriteit voor Financiële Diensten en Markten / Autorité des services et marchés financiers) (the FSMA) as a public foreign alternative collective investment scheme under Article 259 of the Belgian Law of 19 April 2014 on alternative collective investment institutions and their managers (the Law of 19 April 2014). The shares in the Company will be marketed in Belgium to professional investors within the meaning the Law of 19 April 2014 only. Any offering material relating to the offering has not been, and will not be, approved by the FSMA pursuant to the Belgian laws and regulations applicable to the public offering of securities. Accordingly, this offering as well as any documents and materials relating to the offering may not be advertised, offered or distributed in any other way, directly or indirectly, to any other person located and/or resident in Belgium other than to professional investors within the meaning the Law of 19 April 2014 and in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public pursuant to the Law of 19 April 2014. The shares offered by the Company shall not, whether directly or indirectly, be marketed, offered, sold, transferred or delivered in Belgium to any individual or legal entity other than to professional investors within the meaning the Law of 19 April 2014 or than to investors having a minimum investment of at least EUR 250,000 per investor.
Germany
The Trust has not offered or placed and will not offer or place or sell, directly or indirectly, units/shares to retail investors or semi-professional investors in Germany, i.e. investors which do not qualify as professional investors as defined in sec. 1 (19) no. 32 German Investment Code (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch – KAGB) and has not distributed and will not distribute or cause to be distributed to such retail or semi-professional investor in Germany, this document or any other offering material relating to the units/shares of the Trust and that such offers, placements, sales and distributions have been and will be made in Germany only to professional investors within the meaning of sec. 1 (19) no. 32 German Investment Code (Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch – KAGB).
Luxembourg
Units/shares/interests of the Trust may only be offered or sold in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourg) to professional investors within the meaning of Luxembourg act by the act of 12 July 2013 on alternative investment fund managers (the AIFM Act). This communication does not constitute an offer, an invitation or a solicitation for any investment or subscription for the units/shares/interests of the Trust by retail investors in Luxembourg. Any person who is in possession of this document is hereby notified that no action has or will be taken that would allow a direct or indirect offering or placement of the units/shares/interests of the Trust to retail investors in Luxembourg.
Switzerland
The Trust has not been approved by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (“FINMA”) for offering to non-qualified investors pursuant to Art. 120 para. 1 of the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes of 23 June 2006, as amended (“CISA”). Accordingly, the interests in the Trust may only be offered or advertised, and this document may only be made available, in Switzerland to qualified investors within the meaning of CISA. Investors in the Trust do not benefit from the specific investor protection provided by CISA and the supervision by the FINMA in connection with the approval for offering.
Singapore
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Where the Trust is subscribed or purchased under Section 275 by a relevant person which is:
(a) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA)) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or
(b) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary of the trust is an individual who is an accredited investor, securities or securities-based derivatives contracts (each term as defined in Section 2(1) of the SFA) of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest (howsoever described) in that trust shall not be transferred within six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired the securities pursuant to an offer made under Section 275 except:
(1) to an institutional investor or to a relevant person or to any person arising from an offer referred to in Section 275(1A) or Section 276(4)(c)(ii) of the SFA,
(2) where no consideration is or will be given for the transfer;
(3) where the transfer is by operation of law; or
(4) pursuant to Section 276(7) of the SFA or Regulation 37A of the Securities and Futures (Offers of Investments) (Securities and Securities-based Derivatives Contracts) Regulations 2018.
