Since Elon Musk came along, the hardship of reaching the stars has become considerably less severe. And that has fired our imagination like almost nothing else.

An investor friend recently referred in an interview to those car stickers that say, “I bought this car before Elon went crazy.” He said he would have preferred one that read, “I bought this car because Elon is crazy.” After all, you have to be a little crazy to build something great, to do things that make others shake their heads and dismiss you as someone who is “lost in space”. 

In between came political activism, photos with a chainsaw in hand, polarizing posts on his own social media platform and, before all that, let’s not forget, the quick invention of the electric car. Although, strictly speaking, it has existed since the 1830s. Musk made it fit for the masses.

SpaceX Takes Off

Elon Musk is a polarizing figure who occupies a permanent place in the public imagination. Others prefer to turn away in disappointment, ideally with a sticker on the car. Indifference is rare.

So the SpaceX IPO attracted enormous attention. It was highly unusual: a fixed price of $135 instead of a price range, an extreme valuation and Elon Musk still firmly in control. As a side note, it was also the largest IPO in history.

Allocation did not go, as usual, almost entirely to large institutions. Retail investors received a significant share as well. Musk seems to expect loyal disciples there rather than skeptical professionals.

I did not subscribe, by the way. IPO stands for “initial public offering.” There is another version, however: “It’s Probably Overpriced.” At a valuation of almost 100 times revenue, that interpretation may not be so far off. I was one leap I was not willing to make. Besides, euphoric mass movements tend to make me uncomfortable.

Also interesting: only around 5% of existing SpaceX shares came to market. That will change by year-end. In the coming months, lock-up periods expire, meaning that nearly 60% of the shares could eventually be sold to the public. That is a substantial amount of stock that will need to find buyers. It will certainly stay interesting.