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The SpaceX IPO... It's Worse Than You Think

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The SpaceX IPO... It's Worse Than You Think

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419 segments

0:00

Elon Musk is preparing the largest

0:01

initial public offering in human

0:03

history. At a $1.75 trillion target

0:06

valuation, SpaceX would be worth more

0:08

than every American defense contractor

0:10

combined. Worth more than the market

0:12

caps of Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Disney,

0:14

Nike, and Starbucks all put together.

0:17

And worth more than the top 10 companies

0:19

on the London Stock Exchange combined.

0:21

So, if you're wondering who the is

0:22

buying SpaceX, a company losing $5

0:25

billion per year at the largest IPO

0:27

valuation in history, well, the answer

0:29

is you. Because within a few weeks, your

0:31

retirement account is going to be one of

0:33

the biggest buyers of SpaceX stock,

0:36

whether you like it or not. And that's

0:37

because Nasdaq quietly introduced a

0:39

brand new rule designed specifically to

0:42

make that happen. But before we get to

0:44

the rule, you need to understand why

0:46

this all matters. Because the only way a

0:48

nearly $2 trillion valuation makes any

0:50

sense is if SpaceX is actually the

0:52

company the public believes it to be.

0:55

But it's not. If you ask 10 people on

0:57

the street what SpaceX sells, most will

0:59

say rockets. Some will say Mars stuff,

1:01

but both are wrong. SpaceX isn't just a

1:03

rocket company. It's actually three

1:05

businesses stacked on top of each other.

1:07

And the rocket business isn't even the

1:08

most important one. There's the good,

1:10

the bad, and the ugly that comes with

1:12

this company, and trust me, it gets

1:14

pretty ugly. So, let's start there. It's

1:16

the part of SpaceX that gets the most

1:18

attention and creates the least value.

1:22

XAI is mostly known for owning the

1:24

social media platform Twitter.

1:27

>> [clears throat]

1:27

>> Uh, sorry. I mean the social media

1:29

platform X. Anyways, it's also the AI

1:32

lab Elon Musk founded in 2023 to compete

1:35

with OpenAI and Anthropic. And a few

1:38

months ago, SpaceX acquired XAI in an

1:40

all-stock deal that valued the combined

1:42

entity at $1.25 trillion, with XAI

1:45

itself accounting for 250 billion of

1:48

that. If you're wondering how it's

1:50

allowed for one of Elon's companies to

1:51

acquire another one of Elon's companies,

1:54

the answer is I have no idea, but it

1:56

happened. So, with a $250 billion

1:59

valuation, you'd assume XAI is a

2:01

financially sound company, right? Or at

2:04

least close to it. Or at a minimum, that

2:06

the people who built it still work

2:08

there. Well, none of those things are

2:10

true. XAI was founded with 11

2:12

co-founders, researchers and engineers

2:15

from DeepMind, OpenAI, Google, and the

2:17

University of Toronto. It was a true

2:19

heavyweight team. But, by 2025, the

2:22

company was burning more than a billion

2:23

dollars a month. And by March of this

2:25

year, every single one of the 11

2:27

co-founders had walked out from the

2:29

company. Then Elon, on his own social

2:31

media platform, publicly admitted that

2:33

XAI had to be rebuilt from the

2:36

foundations up, which is the polite way

2:37

of saying the CEO of SpaceX just paid

2:40

$250 billion

2:42

for an asset that needs to be rebuilt

2:44

from scratch. And to say that XAI is

2:46

overvalued would still be a massive

2:48

understatement. OpenAI generates around

2:50

$24 billion in revenue annually and is

2:53

currently valued at around $850 billion.

2:57

While Anthropic generates over $30

2:59

billion annually and is valued around

3:01

$400 billion. But, XAI, who estimates a

3:04

billion dollars in revenue, was bought

3:06

for $250 billion. So, the market is

3:09

pricing XAI like it's Emirates, but in

3:11

reality, it's more like Spirit Airlines.

3:13

I like to look at XAI as the reverse

3:16

Jerome Powell piece of SpaceX. Instead

3:18

of printing cash, it burns whatever cash

3:20

the rest of the business generates. But,

3:22

it's also only one of the three

3:24

businesses inside SpaceX. The other two

3:26

businesses are the ones actually doing

3:28

the work. But, before we get to the

3:30

crown jewel, let's start with the one

3:32

that gives the company its name.

3:34

>> [music]

3:36

>> This is the part most people picture

3:37

when they hear the name SpaceX. It's the

3:40

rocket business. It launches things into

3:42

orbit, satellites for the US government,

3:44

cargo to the International Space

3:46

Station, crewed missions for NASA, and a

3:48

lot of other satellites, which we'll get

3:50

to in a minute. And the rocket business

3:52

at SpaceX generated roughly $4 billion

3:54

in revenue last year, which may sound

3:57

impressive until you compare it to the

3:58

$2 trillion valuation. Then, it suddenly

4:01

doesn't sound impressive at all,

4:03

especially when you realize the rocket

4:04

business represented only about a

4:06

quarter of SpaceX's total revenue last

4:08

year. So, this brings us to the third

4:10

business. It's the one most people don't

4:12

think about when they hear the word

4:13

SpaceX, but it's also the one that

4:15

investors care about most, and it's the

4:17

one that's paying the bills for

4:18

everything else.

4:20

>> [music]

4:22

>> This is the crown jewel of SpaceX.

4:24

Starlink is a satellite internet

4:25

provider. It's the answer to the

4:27

question, what if Comcast, but in space,

4:30

which sounds like the kind of thing a

4:31

venture capitalist tweets at 3:00 in the

4:33

morning, except in this case, Elon

4:35

actually built it. And Starlink launched

4:38

in beta in 2020, and 6 years later, it's

4:40

the fastest-scaling telecom company in

4:43

human history. There are now more than

4:44

10,000 Starlink satellites in Earth's

4:46

orbit, each one beaming internet down to

4:49

a little dish that sits on your roof.

4:51

The dish points itself at the

4:52

satellites. The satellites talk to each

4:54

other, and somehow this works. Here's

4:57

what entrepreneur and podcast host Scott

4:59

Galloway had to say about Starlink.

5:02

And then, the best product, I think, the

5:04

last few years has been Starlink.

5:06

That's amazing.

5:07

>> I just think it's absolute I've done

5:09

podcasts from planes.

5:11

I can talk to my sons on FaceTime. That

5:15

product is,

5:16

you know, all airlines are flying the

5:17

same tin can, same routes, same bad

5:20

food. A real point of differentiation

5:22

for them, and it's also in maritime.

5:24

I think Starlink is the best tech

5:26

product. So, power to him.

5:28

When they go public, is it an amazing

5:31

company, or is it overvalued? The answer

5:33

is yes. Two can be true at the same

5:35

time. Starlink has now grown to over 10

5:37

million active subscribers in roughly

5:39

150 countries. And in 2025, Starlink

5:43

alone brought in $11.4 billion dollars

5:45

revenue, which is roughly 61% of

5:48

SpaceX's total revenue for the year.

5:50

But, Starlink's ability to generate

5:51

revenue isn't even the most impressive

5:53

part. It's the efficiency underneath

5:55

that revenue which blows my mind. 2

5:57

years ago, Starlink's profit margins

6:00

were about 41%. This year, it's now 63%,

6:03

which means Starlink added over 20

6:05

points in margin expansion in just 2

6:07

years. So, yeah, the margins aren't just

6:10

good, they're also accelerating. And

6:12

Starlink isn't just for consumer

6:14

internet, either. There's a maritime

6:15

version that ships and yachts use, an

6:17

aviation version that commercial

6:19

airlines have started to roll out, and a

6:20

classified defense version called

6:22

Starshield with contracts at the

6:24

National Reconnaissance Office and the

6:25

Pentagon. So, this is the real SpaceX.

6:28

It's a satellite internet provider that

6:30

prints cash, a rocket business that's

6:32

doing pretty good, but is valued like

6:34

it's already colonized Mars, and after

6:36

the February merger, an AI lab that

6:38

lights roughly a billion dollars a month

6:40

on fire. And in 2025, Starlink and the

6:43

rocket business brought in roughly 8

6:45

billion dollars in profits, which sounds

6:47

great until you remember xAI showed up

6:50

to ruin the party. Because the

6:51

consolidated company of SpaceX, which

6:53

also now includes xAI, ended up losing

6:56

nearly 5 billion dollars last year on

6:59

roughly 18 and 1/2 billion dollars in

7:01

revenue. So, let's go back to the

7:02

question from earlier. Who the is

7:05

buying SpaceX at a 1.75 trillion dollar

7:08

valuation? And our answer to this

7:10

question from earlier still stands. It's

7:13

you. And this is where the real story

7:15

for the SpaceX IPO actually is. It's not

7:18

about rockets. It's not about magic

7:20

satellites in space. It's about the

7:21

financial system changing the rules

7:24

right before the biggest IPO in market

7:26

history. Because on May 1st of this

7:28

year, Nasdaq adopted something called

7:30

the fast entry rule. And with SpaceX

7:32

reportedly targeting a June date for

7:34

their initial public offering, the

7:36

timing for this new rule is extremely

7:38

convenient. But, before we get into how

7:40

we've quietly changed the rules to roll

7:42

out the red carpet for SpaceX, a quick

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And now back to that red carpet we

9:18

rolled out for SpaceX and where it

9:20

actually leads. The Nasdaq 100 is the

9:23

gold standard for technology and growth

9:25

companies. It's not only a badge of

9:27

honor for companies to be included in

9:28

it, but there's more than 200 investment

9:30

products with over $600 in assets that

9:33

track the index. Which means once you're

9:35

included in the index, it basically

9:37

forces every investment fund that

9:39

follows the index to automatically buy

9:41

your stock, which translates to billions

9:43

of dollars of investment capital. And

9:45

under the old rules, a newly listed

9:47

company had to wait at least three

9:48

months before it could be added to the

9:50

NASDAQ 100 index. That waiting period

9:53

existed for a reason. It gave the market

9:55

time to discover the actual price before

9:57

passive index funds were forced to buy

9:59

in. But the new fast entry rule cuts

10:02

that waiting period from three months to

10:03

just 15 trading days. It's three months

10:06

of price discovery compressed into three

10:08

weeks, which speeds up the process for

10:10

SpaceX to get that automatic demand

10:12

coming in. But this isn't even the

10:14

change that matters most, because there

10:15

was also two other rule changes. There

10:18

also used to be a minimum free float

10:20

requirement to join the NASDAQ 100. A

10:22

company needed at least 10% of its

10:24

shares actually available for the public

10:26

to buy and sell. SpaceX is targeting a

10:28

free float of 4 to 5%. Under the old

10:31

rules, they wouldn't qualify. Under the

10:33

new rules, that minimum is gone. And

10:35

SpaceX suddenly qualifies. And then

10:37

there's also the new hidden multiplier.

10:39

This one is the hardest to wrap my head

10:41

around. Because buried in the technical

10:43

language of the new rules is a hidden

10:45

multiplier. For companies with a free

10:47

float under 20%, NASDAQ now treats the

10:49

float as three times bigger than it

10:51

actually is. Meaning a 4% float gets

10:54

weighted as if it were 12%. A 5% float

10:57

gets weighted as if it were We've bent

11:02

the rules and rolled out the red carpet

11:03

for SpaceX. We've changed the listing

11:06

requirements so that SpaceX can join the

11:08

index with just 5% of the company

11:10

actually trading publicly. A float level

11:12

that would have been an automatic

11:13

disqualification six months ago. We've

11:16

changed the price discovery timeline so

11:18

that SpaceX skips the standard three

11:20

month seasoning and gets dropped into

11:21

the index just 15 trading days after

11:24

going public. And we've changed the

11:25

waiting rule so that ETFs are now

11:27

legally required to treat SpaceX's float

11:30

as if it were three times larger than it

11:32

actually is, meaning we've built

11:34

manufactured demand. And this is all

11:36

unfolding right now, but it's not just

11:38

SpaceX. OpenAI and Anthropic are both

11:41

reportedly eyeing their own public

11:42

listings this year, and both will almost

11:44

certainly list with the same

11:45

configuration the new rules were quietly

11:47

tailored for, meaning the Nasdaq didn't

11:50

rewrite the rules for one company. It

11:52

rewrote them for a class of companies,

11:54

and SpaceX was just the first in line.

11:56

So, Nasdaq cleared the runway for

11:58

SpaceX. The question now is who actually

12:00

gets on the plane, which brings us to

12:02

the retail allocation part of the

12:03

listing. Because while most initial

12:05

public offerings allocate 5 to 10% of

12:08

the offering to retail investors, SpaceX

12:10

is targeting 30%, and Bret Johnson, the

12:13

CFO of SpaceX, told a room full of

12:15

bankers on the record that retail is

12:18

going to be a critical part of the IPO

12:20

and bigger than any IPO in history

12:23

because, in his words, retail buyers

12:25

have been incredibly supportive of us

12:27

and of Elon for a long time, and we want

12:29

to make sure that we recognize that.

12:31

Translated out of corporate speak, the

12:33

CFO of SpaceX told a room of bankers

12:35

that the largest initial public offering

12:37

in history is going to dump 30% of its

12:40

supply on retail buyers, and not because

12:43

retail buyers help with price stability,

12:45

not because they help with long-term

12:47

shareholder alignment, because they're

12:48

loyal to Elon, and that's how this story

12:51

unfolds. The buyers and sellers of

12:53

SpaceX don't show up at the same time.

12:55

The buyers are forced in early. The

12:57

sellers are unlocked later. Shares move

12:59

from insiders sitting on a low-cost

13:01

basis to passive funds and retail, whose

13:04

retirement accounts absorb them at peak

13:06

valuation. Portfolio manager George

13:08

Noble said it best, "Your 401k is the

13:10

exit liquidity." Because if you have any

13:12

sort of retirement account holding US

13:14

stock index funds, then within a few

13:17

weeks of the SpaceX listing, you're

13:18

going to own some stock, and you won't

13:20

have a vote on it. You won't have a

13:22

choice in it. The mechanics of passive

13:24

investing will just buy it for you. So,

13:26

here's the corrected version of SpaceX.

13:28

It's a mashup of three businesses that

13:30

combined lost $5 billion last year

13:33

listing at the largest IPO valuation in

13:35

human history, and we're all going to be

13:37

buyers within a few weeks because of

13:38

manufactured demand. And there's a

13:40

reason traditional financial media isn't

13:42

covering it this way. It isn't

13:44

clickable. Because SpaceX to go public

13:46

at a nearly $2 trillion valuation is a

13:49

headline. But Nasdaq quietly rewrote its

13:52

float waiting methodology to engineer

13:54

passive fund demand for an unprofitable

13:56

company. Well, that doesn't quite roll

13:58

off the tongue as smooth. So, if you

14:00

want to actually better understand

14:02

what's happening in finance and

14:03

economics, hit subscribe. Because I can

14:06

assure you one thing, passive investing

14:08

was sold to you as the smart way to

14:10

invest, low fees, diversification, you

14:13

can set it and forget it, that it's the

14:14

triumph of common sense over Wall

14:16

Street's hot shot stock pickers. And all

14:19

of that's true, but there's also a part

14:20

of the pitch nobody mentioned, that the

14:22

same mechanism that buys the index for

14:24

you automatically also buys whatever

14:27

gets added to it without your input and

14:29

without anyone asking you. So, the

14:31

feature that makes passive investing

14:33

convenient and easy for you is the same

14:35

feature that makes you a guaranteed

14:37

buyer for anyone who can squeeze their

14:39

way into the index. And right now,

14:41

somebody just squeezed their way in.

14:44

>> [music]

Interactive Summary

The video argues that SpaceX's upcoming record-breaking IPO, valued at $1.75 trillion, is being facilitated by significant changes to Nasdaq rules. The company is characterized as a combination of three distinct businesses: an unprofitable AI lab (xAI), a moderately successful rocket business, and a highly profitable, fast-growing satellite internet service (Starlink). The video suggests that recent 'fast entry' rule changes by the Nasdaq, including reduced waiting periods and altered float requirements, are designed to force passive index funds to buy into the IPO early, essentially using retail retirement accounts as exit liquidity for insiders.

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