The acrimonious battle over Baillie Gifford’s £831m Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWI) took a fresh New Year twist today when Boaz Weinstein, founder of Saba Capital Management, accused the trust’s board of selling off its ‘crown jewels’ shares in Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Saba Capital Management (Saba) claims that a sell-down of SpaceX shares was executed to facilitate a merger between two Baillie Gifford funds which would benefit only Baillie Gifford board members and EWI chairman Jonathan Simpson-Dent at the expense of wider shareholders.
Saba, the largest shareholder of EWI, has issued an open letter to the company’s board in advance of a general meeting on 20 January outlining its concerns surrounding the recent sell-down of SpaceX.
On 16 December 2025, the valuation of SpaceX was $800bn, making it one of the world’s most valuable companies.
“As the largest shareholder in the Company, we are deeply concerned at the recent sell-down by Baillie Gifford of the company’s stake in SpaceX – the crown jewel of the company’s portfolio – just two months prior to SpaceX’s scheduled revaluation, in a move that appears to defy commercial logic.”
“We are particularly concerned that this sale was instead motivated by a desire on the part of both Baillie Gifford and you, the board, to facilitate a merger of the company with USA, [Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust],” said Weinstein.
In its letter, Saba asks what steps the board have taken to hold Baillie Gifford accountable for selling the SpaceX shares, significantly below the ‘current valuation’.
Saba are calling for the removal of ‘underperforming incumbent directors’ Jonathan Simpson-Dent, Mungo Wilson, Caroline Roxburgh, Jane McCracken, Mary Gunn and Gregory Eckersley. Instead, they want the election of three new independent directors Gabi Gliksberg, Michael Joseph and Jassen Trenkow.
Among the nine questions demanding an answer by 9th January, Saba asks: “At any point, have Mr Simpson-Dent and Tom Burnet, the Chairman of USA, used disappearing WhatsApp messages to discuss the proposed merger and/or the decision to sell down SpaceX?”
It added: “For context, Saba has heard from various sources that, over the past 12 months, the chairmen of the seven investment trusts that were part of our original December 2024 campaign have used disappearing WhatsApp messages to communicate with each other about Saba.”
Saba point out that SpaceX typically run ‘company-controlled liquidity events’ twice a year when a revaluation is expected that would benefit shareholders. Instead of waiting for the December revaluation, says Saba, “Baillie Gifford sold a substantial portion of EWI and USA’s stakes in SpaceX in October 2025 – at a valuation that appears to have been materially below the December valuation.”
“In early December 2025, news reports emerged that SpaceX was preparing for a possible public offering in 2026 at a rumoured valuation of about $1.5trn. SpaceX subsequently set its valuation at approximately $800bn, leading EWI to report an upward revaluation of SpaceX on 16 December 2025. However, the company’s announcement failed to disclose that it had heavily reduced its stake just two months earlier. By not disclosing its recent sell-down, the company will have given many shareholders the mistaken impression that the revaluation was a positive development while obscuring the fact that the revaluation served to confirm the extent of the losses suffered by shareholders. Our calculations show that the October SpaceX sell-down resulted in an estimated £37m loss for EWI shareholders (approximately 4.4% of EWI’s £831.55m in total assets).
Weinstein says this ‘begs the question’ that the selling of the share was to facilitate a merger between the two Baillie Gifford funds.
He stated selling down EWI’s “highest conviction position” at a price far below its current valuation – and without consulting shareholders – is unacceptable.
“What is even more troublesome is that both Baillie Gifford and the board – in particular, Mr Simpson-Dent – appear to have had strong incentives to push for a merger between EWI and USA. A merger would have enabled Baillie Gifford to retain the combined mandate for EWI and USA, while also requiring us to sign a standstill that would prevent us from advocating for shareholders’ interests in the future.”
Baillie Gifford has dismissed Saba’s claims that it has not performed in the best interest of all shareholders.
Saba was founded in 2009 by Boaz Weinstein and are pioneers in ‘credit value strategies and capital structure arbitrage’.
EWI held assets of £831.55m on 30 November 2025.
The trust’s general meeting is on 20 January
