SpaceX adds longtime Elon Musk ally Roelof Botha to board

Roelof Botha speaks onstage during day one of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 at Moscone Center on Oct. 27, 2025 in San Francisco, California. Kimberly White | Getty Images Less than a week after leading SpaceX through a record IPO, CEO Elon Musk has bolstered the rocket maker's board with another longtime friend and ally, Roelof Botha. In a filing on Wednesday, SpaceX said Botha will serve as an independent director and a member of the company's audit committee starting immediately. Botha becomes the eighth board member at SpaceX, where Musk serves as chairman, in addition to his roles as CEO and technology chief. Since 2003, Botha has worked at venture firm Sequoia, eventually climbing his way to managing director in 2022, before stepping down from that position last year. He's now an adviser to the firm and is listed on its website as part of the seed and early-stage team as well as the growth team. Musk recruited Botha to PayPal in 2000 during the early days of the online payment company. They're also both from South Africa. Sequoia has been a big backer of Musk's companies, investing in SpaceX as well as Neuralink and The Boring Company. It also contributed to Musk's leveraged buyout of Twitter, which is now known as X and is owned by SpaceX. The firm first invested in SpaceX in 2019 and added to its position in future rounds, building up a stake valued in the billions of dollars, according to reports . …