SpaceX’s Mega-IPO Puts a Price Tag on the Fear of Missing Out

Elon Musk has turned science fiction into reality for the better part of two decades, making believers rich and earning the benefit of the doubt from many on Wall Street. Away from rockets and electric cars, his companies are bending reality on another plane – convincing analysts to stretch their traditional valuation tools, and assign multiples based on what one academic calls “optionalities.”

Musk’s propensity for futuristic plans has drawn analysts to view Tesla Inc. as a robotics company rather than an automaker and has laid the groundwork for SpaceX to target a $2 trillion valuation when it goes public in the coming weeks. Skeptics point to nosebleed valuations, but when the market has voted with its wallet in favor of Tesla’s ambitions, many have already decided the greater risk from SpaceX’s IPO is not to invest.