ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood is defending her fund’s stake in SpaceX, declaring the aerospace and satellite network pioneer could become the “most important company in global history” despite the stock’s recent slide and an upcoming $116 billion share unlock.

During an interview on “Mornings with Maria” Wednesday, Wood explained why she remains bullish on SpaceX after funds managed by ARK Invest allocated $80 million to the position following its public debut.

“[Down] from its peak, it is,” Wood said, “but of course not from the IPO price. We think this could become the most important company in history, and I mean in global history.”

FAMED PERMABEAR WARNS SPACEX I.P.O. COULD BE LAUGHED AT IN 50 YEARS, ‘CRAZIEST’ MARKET BET FOR WALL STREET

“We’re talking about not only really exploring a new world — the universe — in terms of its launch capabilities and helping others to do so as well, but also a global communications network. Really, think telecom, that’s been a very local business. In fact, the way to break into countries historically was to buy the [telecommunications companies], no longer.”

ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood doubled down on her bullish stance for SpaceX stock on FOX Business’ “Mornings with Maria.” (Getty Images)

Just before Wednesday’s opening bell, SpaceX stock was trading around $123.50 per share. According to Barron’s, the stock is down about 47% from its high of about $225, and has shed nearly $1.4 trillion in market value. This puts SpaceX in eighth place by market capitalization, behind Meta for the first time since its debut.

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Wood previously said in a May interview with Bloomberg that she imagines SpaceX will be “volatile,” but applauded founder Elon Musk’s “incredible” ability to vertically integrate all of his companies, including Tesla, xAI and Neuralink.

Musk warned investors against trying to short-sell the stock last week in a post on X, saying, “The survival probability of firms that maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low.”

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The former chief executive of Southern Water has been charged alongside three others over an alleged plan to manipulate water quality tests to avoid paying millions of pounds in penalties, it can now be reported.

Matthew Wright is accused of conspiring to defraud the Environment Agency (EA) and water regulator Ofwat between 2012 and 2017 along with Philip Barker, Clive Massey and Mark Gregory, who also worked at the company.

The EA previously asked a judge to issue a summons against Wright and the others charging them with the offence.

Wright’s solicitor said his client “denies all wrongdoing and has co-operated fully with the Environment Agency’s investigation”.

The summons was issued last year but Wright launched a legal challenge which was dismissed by two senior judges on Wednesday.

Wright’s lawyers told the High Court in June that the EA did not have the power to issue the summons and it should be thrown out.

But the judges dismissed his claim and ruled restrictions previously preventing reporting of the legal challenge should be lifted.

Separate court listings showed the case against 60-year-old Wright, of Haslemere, Surrey, Barker, 57, of West Chiltington, West Sussex, 64-year-old Massey, of Brandhill, Shropshire, and 63-year-old Gregory, of Southampton, were scheduled to be heard at Medway Magistrates’ Court on 14 July.

The four are accused of conspiring between 2012 and 2017 to defraud those conducting the environmental and financial regulation duties of Southern Water, including the EA and Ofwat, by “the implementation of artificial no-flow events at wastewater treatment works”.

The court listings show Southern Water has separately been charged with dozens of offences of failing to comply with or contravening an environmental permit condition between 2013 and 2017 at multiple wastewater treatment works.

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The Somerset-headquartered brand launched a strategy last year aimed at returning the business to profit

Mulberry has revealed shrinking losses and accelerating sales as its turnaround efforts continue to gather pace.

The Chilcompton-based fashion brand, known for its leather handbags, launched a major turnaround plan early last year as part of efforts to shore up its finances and return to profit.

On Wednesday, the London-listed firm reported a pre-tax loss of £8.9m for the year to March 28, decreasing from a £32.2m loss a year earlier.

Mulberry said profitability has been buoyed by an increase in sales at full price and reduced promotional activity.

The group also cut its costs by around 10% over the year, despite investment into its marketing, brand and digital operations.

It came as the company delivered a 4% increase in revenues to £125.5m for the year, with growth accelerating in the second half, which saw an 11% rise.

In the UK, like-for-like sales rose by 8% on the back of strong growth from its retail shops, which saw a 19% like-for-like increase.

It welcomed more new customers as “new products landed and resonated”, while Mulberry also benefited from improvements in stock availability.

Andrea Baldo, chief executive of Mulberry, said: “We returned the business to growth, significantly reduced our losses and strengthened gross margin through greater full-price discipline.

“What encourages me most is the response from UK customers.

“More than half of our retail and digital sales came from returning customers, demonstrating that we are winning back former clients who already know and love the Mulberry brand and the importance of regaining relevance in our home market in order to grow internationally.”

Shares in the company were 2.2 per cent higher at 140p on Wednesday, striking their highest level for two years.