Grantham: SpaceX Is 'Craziest IPO in History'
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of GMO, called SpaceX "the craziest IPO in the history of man" on Morningstar's The Long View podcast, saying investors 50 years from now will laugh at its prospectus and that it would be "amazing if it doesn't collapse."
- SpaceX recently joined the Nasdaq 100, and Grantham argued that the exchange's new fast-track rules for older IPOs will force index funds to buy the stock, creating more demand than sellers can match.
- SpaceX shares are down 7% over the past month at roughly $150, only modestly above the $135 IPO target price.
- Wall Street price targets diverge sharply: Morgan Stanley sees $300, J.P. Morgan $225, and Goldman Sachs approximately $205.
- A J.P. Morgan note from analysts including Doug Anmuth flagged Musk's 82% voting power as a governance risk, warning "there's only one Elon" and that leadership-transition exposure is a defining concern.
- Grantham said he was baffled by banks' buy recommendations and tied SpaceX's success to AI developments that would make "our entire lives totally different," describing the most bullish outcome as a "rather horrific" world run by "automaton friends."
Why it matters: Grantham's dissent cuts against an otherwise bullish Street: while Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman all carry buy-side targets of $205–$300, the stock is already off 7% from its post-IPO mark, and one of its biggest cheerleaders (J.P. Morgan) is simultaneously warning that 82% of voting power sits with a single individual whose departure could derail the entire investment thesis.
