Episode
The Trillion Dollar Gap | Aswath Damodaran on SpaceX, AI and the Big Market Delusion
- Podcast
- Excess Returns
- Published
- Jun 19, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4138
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Summary
Professor Aswath Damodaran joins Kai Wu on The Intangible Economy to break down how to value SpaceX, AI companies, intangible assets, and the future of value investing. We discuss why big markets do not automatically create big value, how AI CapEx is changing the character of major technology companies, and why the best investment stories still have to connect to the numbers. Subscribe on Spotify Subscribe on Apple Topics covered: Valuing SpaceX after its IPO and why price matters even for great companies How Starlink, space launch, and xAI fit into SpaceX’s valuation story Why total addressable market can mislead investors in AI and other disruptive industries The problem with AI unit economics, data centers, power, water, and reinvestment needs Why growth can destroy value when margins and returns on capital are weak How intangible assets, R&D, future growth, and narratives should show up in valuation The Big Market Delusion and how overconfidence drives boom and bust cycles Why AI CapEx is different from the dot-com boom and could create broader risks How AI is changing the character of the Magnificent Seven and semiconductor companies Why value investing became rigid, ritualistic, and righteous, and how it can evolve Timestamps: 00:00 Why great companies can still be bad investments 01:03 Introducing Aswath Damodaran and The Intangible Economy 01:49 SpaceX IPO, Starlink, xAI, and the challenge of valuing uncertainty 05:31 Why Starlink became the core of SpaceX’s current revenue 10:31 How Damodaran valued SpaceX across launch, connectivity, and AI 14:07 Why AI’s huge market may still have difficult unit economics 17:10 The tension between SpaceX competing in AI and renting data centers to competitors 20:00 Why valuation should use distributions instead of fa…