The $800 billion figure would launch SpaceX past OpenAI, which is valued at about $500 billion. The number also makes Elon Musk about $160 billion. He owns an estimated 40% of SpaceX stock. The most valuable aerospace and defense company in the U.S. is GE Aerospace, valued at about $300 billion.

SpaceX, which has prominent operations from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base, may make its initial public offering in 2026, reports say.

TOPSHOT - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience lunar landers, streaks into orbit after lifting off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January 15, 2025.

The backstory on this investment idea is really the story about one of the brightest tacticians in the communications industry, and I am not talking about John Malone of Liberty Media. I will refer to Mr. Melone and some of the genius moves he made later ...