
In this week's episode of WSJ’s Take On the Week, co-hosts Miriam Gottfried and Telis Demos break down the unconventional lead-up to the SpaceX IPO. They examine the rocket maker's choice to propose a single price of $135 a share this past week, rather than a range, which set the valuation at around $1.77 trillion. The hosts also discuss the number of shares being offered to retail investors and the broader IPO boom—including Anthropic and OpenAI—that is poised to impact passive index investors. After the break, they are joined by NYU Stern School of Business professor Aswath Damodaran, widely known as the "Dean of Valuation" or the "Valuation Guru." Damodaran dissects SpaceX's estimated more than $28 trillion total addressable market, calling the around $26 trillion portion tied to AI more of a "wish than an expectation." He talks about the risks of investing in a founder-controlled company like SpaceX, where Elon Musk retains the majority of the voting rights due to its share structure. He also explains why momentum for the company’s stock could matter more than valuation. Chapters: 1:04 — SpaceX IPO Pricing 3:23 — How to Buy SpaceX Shares 7:51 — New Index Inclusion Rules 9:20 — SpaceX Business Overview 12:13 — Valuing SpaceX's Three Businesses 14:11 — Breaking Down SpaceX’s Valuation 18:00 — AI and SpaceX’s Total Addressable Market 23:43 — Elon Musk and Governance 26:53 — The Economics of the AI Business 31:42 — The Space Business & Mars 34:15 — Are We in a Bubble? This is WSJ’s Take On the Week where co-hosts Telis Demos, Heard on the Street’s banking and money columnist, and Miriam Gottfried, WSJ’s investing and wealth management reporter, cut through the noise and dive into markets, the economy and finance—the big trades, key players and business news ahead. Have an idea for a future guest or episode? How can we better help you take on the week? We’d love to hear from you. Email the show at takeontheweek@wsj.com. #WSJ #SPACEX #ELONMUSK

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