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Gwynne Shotwell
Photo: Kim Shiflett, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons45

Gwynne Shotwell

American business executive (born 1963)

Gwynne Shotwell (née Rowley, previously Gurevich; born November 23, 1963) is an American business executive and engineer. She is the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, an American space transportation company, where she is responsible for day-to-day operations and company growth.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Gwynne Shotwell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Nov 23, 1963.1

Companies

Holdings

Stock this person has reported owning, from the forms officers and directors file with the SEC. See the biggest insider stakes.

Shares held

  • SpaceX SPCX4,028,090 shares29$591.7M at $146.90Sep 24, 2026
  • Polaris PII29,486 shares30$1.5M at $51.45Jul 1, 2026

As of each latest filing. The line shows shares held over time.

Recent filings

  • Sep 22, 2026Sold 24,417 shares at $154.72 of SpaceX29
  • Sep 22, 2026Sold 151,844 shares at $153.95 of SpaceX29
  • Sep 22, 2026Sold 145,809 shares at $153.27 of SpaceX29
  • Sep 22, 2026Sold 7,600 shares at $151.93 of SpaceX29
  • Sep 22, 2026Sold 12,500 shares at $151.15 of SpaceX29
  • Sep 22, 2026Exercised options 128,865 shares at $19.40 of SpaceX29
  • Sep 22, 2026Exercised options 74,405 shares at $11.20 of SpaceX29
  • Sep 22, 2026Exercised options 138,900 shares at $8.40 of SpaceX29
  • Jul 1, 2026Granted 492 shares at $64.73 of Polaris30
  • Apr 30, 2026Granted 2,641 shares at $66.27 of Polaris31
  • Apr 18, 2026Exercised options 74,410 shares at $11.20 of SpaceX29
  • Apr 18, 2026Exercised options 138,900 shares at $8.40 of SpaceX29
  • Apr 1, 2026Granted 560 shares at $54.70 of Polaris32
  • Jan 2, 2026Granted 461 shares at $66.48 of Polaris33
  • Oct 1, 2025Granted 497 shares at $61.68 of Polaris34
  • Jul 1, 2025Granted 683 shares at $44.87 of Polaris35
  • May 1, 2025Granted 4,320 shares at $34.72 of Polaris36
  • Apr 1, 2025Granted 740 shares at $41.37 of Polaris37
  • Jan 2, 2025Granted 543 shares at $56.38 of Polaris38
  • Oct 1, 2024Granted 370 shares at $82.77 of Polaris39
  • Jul 1, 2024Granted 407 shares at $75.31 of Polaris40
  • Apr 25, 2024Granted 1,801 shares at $83.28 of Polaris41
  • Apr 1, 2024Granted 309 shares at $98.97 of Polaris42
  • Jan 2, 2024Granted 325 shares at $94.36 of Polaris43
  • Oct 2, 2023Granted 298 shares at $102.64 of Polaris44

Early life and education

  • 1982 to 1986Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Bachelor of Science; mechanical engineering3 4
  • 1986 to 1988Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Master of Science; applied mathematics3 4
  • Date not recordedLibertyville High School3

Shotwell was born in Evanston, Illinois, as the middle of three daughters. Her father was a brain surgeon and her mother was an artist. She was raised in Libertyville, Illinois. In 1982, she graduated from Libertyville High School. In 1969, when she was five years old, she watched a television broadcast of the Apollo 11 mission with her family, but remembers finding it "boring" and was not interested in space at the time. Shotwell excelled in both academics and athletics in high school, where she was on the cheerleading and varsity basketball teams while achieving at the top of her class.

Shotwell's interests changed during high school after her mother took her to a panel discussion at the Illinois Institute of Technology by the Society of Women Engineers, where a mechanical engineer in particular inspired Shotwell to become an engineer. Following this, she decided to apply to Northwestern University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering, and later a Master of Science degree in applied mathematics.

From Wikipedia’s article on Gwynne Shotwell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: entrepreneur, businessperson, military flight engineer.13

  • Since 2009Board member, SpaceX9
  • Since 2008President, SpaceX10 12
  • Since 2002President, SpaceX5 8
  • 1998 to 2002Worked at Microcosm5 7
  • 1988 to 1998Worked at The Aerospace Corporation5 6
  • Date not recordedWorked at Chrysler5
  • Date not recordedChief operating officer10 11

At the beginning of her career, Shotwell had an interview with IBM on the day of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which disturbed her and she did not get a job offer. Instead, Shotwell took a job in the automotive industry at Chrysler Corporation's management training program, which she initially enjoyed but later grew tired of and left to return to Northwestern for her graduate degree.

In 1988, Shotwell began work at the El Segundo research center of The Aerospace Corporation, and did technical work on military space research and development contracts. An early project she worked on was Space Transportation Systems 39 (STS-39), a crewed spaceflight. During a ten-year tenure, she worked in thermal analysis. Shotwell worked in both space systems engineering and project management positions.

She left The Aerospace Corporation in 1998 to become director of the space systems division at Microcosm Inc., a small rocket company in El Segundo. There, she was on the executive committee and was responsible for business development.

Read more

SpaceX

Shotwell left Microcosm in 2002 to join SpaceX, a private, commercial, space exploration company founded by Elon Musk in the same year. She was introduced to Musk through her former Microcosm colleague Hans Königsmann who had joined SpaceX. In that meeting, she convinced Musk that SpaceX should hire a dedicated employee to work on business development full-time, but had not planned to join the company herself. Shotwell took the job two weeks later in September 2002. In December 2008, Shotwell was promoted to company president following her role in the successful negotiation of the first Commercial Resupply Services contract with the NASA Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier. This followed SpaceX's first successful launch of the Falcon 1 on its fourth attempt earlier in the year. She was responsible for leading the effort on building the Falcon Vehicle manifest to over 50 launches, generating US$5 billion in revenue. This included a commercial connection to the International Space Station for resupplying services, where they were able to deliver cargo and supplies to the astronauts. Shotwell is the President and COO of SpaceX, responsible for day-to-day operations and managing all customer and strategic relations to support company growth.

She oversaw the first landing of an orbital rocket's first stage on land and on an ocean platform, the first relaunch and landing of a used orbital rocket, the first controlled flyback and recovery of a payload fairing, and the first re-flight of a commercial cargo spacecraft. SpaceX has a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA to deliver astronauts and science instruments to the International Space Station. On May 30, 2020, SpaceX became the first private company to launch two astronauts to Earth orbit.

Shotwell has received particular praise from NASA Administrator Bill Nelson for her "phenomenal" leadership of SpaceX as it developed the Falcon 9 into the "workhorse" of the space launch sector. Nelson had reportedly been concerned in 2022, after Elon Musk purchased Twitter, that it would distract Musk from focusing on SpaceX, but became more comfortable after meetings with Shotwell left him feeling reassured that she was in charge of day-to-day operations.

In March 2019, Shotwell joined the board of directors of Polaris Industries.

Shotwell has been on the California Space Authority board of directors and its executive committee after she was elected in 2004. She has been an officer on the AIAA Space Systems Technical Committee and participates in a variety of STEM related programs. She led a committee that raised over $350,000 in scholarships for the Frank J. Redd Student Competition over six years.

Starlink use in Ukraine

Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Shotwell led negotiations with Ukrainian government agencies for Starlink satellite services, which were at first donated by SpaceX. These arrangements were later formalized in a US Department of Defense contract to buy Starlink for Ukraine. Earlier, Shotwell had announced that her company took measures to prevent the use of Starlink to control combat drones. She stated Ukrainians had used the service in ways that were not part of the agreement; she had agreed to donate Starlink satellite services for communications, defense and humanitarian purposes such as "ambulances, hospitals and mothers", but had not intended it to be weaponized for drone strikes.

From Wikipedia’s article on Gwynne Shotwell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornNov 23, 1963, Evanston6 14
  • CitizenshipUnited States15
  • ResidenceCalifornia16

Shotwell is married to Robert Shotwell, an engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She has two children from a previous marriage with Leon Gurevich.

Shotwell owns a ranch in Texas, which she considers to be her "home office."

From Wikipedia’s article on Gwynne Shotwell (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 2023Washington Award17 21
  • 2020Time 10017 20
  • 2014Women in Space Science Award17
  • 2012Women in Technology Hall of Fame17 19
  • Date not recordedFellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics17 18

In the news

3 recent articles from 3 outlets we read name Gwynne Shotwell. We match the full name, and check the article also names one of their companies or that they are well known.

  • Watch Live: Tesla to unveil new Roadster in TexasAustin American-Statesman, Oct 16, 2026…came about after SpaceX acquired xAI early in the year and increased during the SpaceX IPO this past summer, when COO Gwynne Shotwell said such a move could “make Elon’s life a little easier.” The two companies have also become more intertwined with activity on Terafab, the chip plant coming to Grimes County on which they’re collaborating. Now, analysts at Barclays say a merger between Tesla and SpaceX could be announced before the Austin automaker’s annual general meeting, which is expected by early December. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A livestream of the unveiling can be viewed on X.
  • Trump Account stocks gifts explained as Michael Dell defends ruleNewsweek, center, Oct 9, 2026…tradable public company stock to support Trump Accounts.” Shortly following the July announcements, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said that she and her husband would gift company stock to over two million children aged 11 to 17 in areas…
  • Trump Accounts top 70 million as new stock-donation rules open door to 'mega donors,' official saysCNBC, center, Oct 8, 2026…approach, and Republicans fight to keep slim Congressional majorities in the Senate and House. After SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell pledged in July to donate stock to the Trump Accounts program, the Trump administration opened the door to…

Sources

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    Wikidata and SEC EDGARSpaceX, Board member
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