SpaceX Is Now America’s 6th Most Valuable Public Company
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I think the potential of agentic is to rethink how work gets done overall. It challenges all sorts of traditional orthodoxies around how organizations execute the work at hand.
That's Jason Gerzades, CEO of Deloitte US, talking about the transformational potential of agentic AI. Join him later to learn why agents are a game changer for businesses across industries.
SpaceX is now America's sixth most valuable company. And that makes Elon Musk officially the world's first trillionaire. Plus, it's a mystery vexing analyst. How has China been able to stop importing millions of barrels of oil since the start of the Iran war?
China was able to slash oil imports without visible disruptions to its economy. Cars are still running on the street. People are still traveling. Toilet paper is still there. You know, how is this possible?
It's Friday, June 12th. I'm Alex Ocelev for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. Today, SpaceX made its long-awaited stock market debut. Shares opened trading at $150 around midday, 11% above the IPO price of $135. And the rocket company's stock ended the day up 19% at $160.95. Its market cap is $2.1 trillion, making it America's sixth most valuable company, just below Amazon. CEO Elon Musk's other company, Tesla, is now number eight. The IPO gripped Wall Street and transfixed investors worldwide. And it was as near a picture-perfect debut as most bankers could imagine, with a pop that was neither too big nor too small.
Speaking from Starbase Texas this morning, Musk said that when he began SpaceX more than 20 years ago, he told people that the company was probably going to fail.
It is certainly hard to believe that
What major milestone did SpaceX achieve on its stock market debut?
A little company that started in a warehouse in El Segundo is now going public with the largest IPO ever.
That record IPO also helped Musk become the world's first trillionaire. Of course, Musk was already the world's richest person before the IPO. But a trillionaire is a notch above. WSJ special writer Tao Francis explains how Musk got here.
How did Elon Musk become the world's first trillionaire?
Late last summer, we estimated that he was worth just a little more than $400 billion. A few weeks ago, we checked back, $811 billion. And of course, now he's crossed the trillion-dollar threshold. Most of that huge increase since last summer is really about SpaceX.
As of today's market close, Musk's net worth was about $1.2 trillion. Teo says that Musk's money is almost all tied up in his companies, like SpaceX and Tesla.
What factors contributed to China's reduced oil imports during the Iran conflict?
He's not only the biggest shareholders in these companies, he's also their leader. If he starts selling, that could drive the share price down. He can borrow against his holdings to some degree, but ultimately his fortunes are tied up with the fortunes of these companies.
Speaking of Tesla, it also closed up today, gaining 1.8 percent. Stocks rose overall, with the Dow leading the gains and finishing 0.7 percent higher. Today, oil prices are around $85 a barrel.
How has China's economy managed without importing millions of barrels of oil?
That's certainly higher than before the conflict, but nowhere near the $150 to $200 a barrel that many analysts predicted when the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed. There are two main reasons global oil prices aren't higher. The U.S. is exporting more and China is importing less. To better understand the China side of the equation, Energy Markets reporter Rebecca Fang joins me now from London. Rebecca, this mystery of the three million barrels, this is the missing amount of oil that China would normally be importing every day, but now isn't. So how is China able to avoid importing all this oil?
That actually is the mystery. So yeah, as you said, normally China would import around 11 million barrels a day. But in May, the official data is showing that China only imported 7.8 million barrels a day. It seems to us that China was able to slash oil imports without... visible disruptions to his economy. You know, cars are still running on the street. People are still traveling. Toilet paper is still there. And China is probably the country that prepared a lot for this exact moment.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:05
2
What major milestone did SpaceX achieve on its stock market debut?
2:05–2:36
3
How did Elon Musk become the world's first trillionaire?
2:36–3:03
4
What factors contributed to China's reduced oil imports during the Iran conflict?
3:03–3:33
5
How has China's economy managed without importing millions of barrels of oil?
3:33–13:09
Speakers
5 identifiedMore from WSJ What’s News
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