Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
Proverbs 16:3
Dear Kingdom Builders,
This week, SpaceX is preparing to go public at a $1.75 trillion valuation. That’s larger than ExxonMobil, Walmart, and JPMorgan Chase COMBINED! But what most people don’t know is if it hadn’t been for Musk’s ultimate mission, it likely would have never made it off the launch pad.
In 2008, Elon Musk had enough money for one more rocket launch. Three had already failed. SpaceX was hemorrhaging cash, Tesla was on life support, and the financial crisis had swallowed what little investor appetite remained for risky ventures.
Then Peter Thiel's Founders Fund invested $20 million. Just enough to fund one more attempt.
The reaction was immediate, and brutal. Other investors actually contacted Thiel to let him know that they were relieved they hadn't invested in Founders Fund because “anyone investing in something as crazy as rockets shouldn’t be in venture capital.”
But then, on September 28, 2008, with the fate of the company on the line, the fourth rocket launched successfully. Shortly after, NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract. The company that was days from collapse was suddenly the future of American spaceflight.
Here's what most people don't know about Thiel's decision.
He didn't particularly invest because the financials were compelling. He invested because of Musk's mission to make humanity an interplanetary species.
Regardless of how you think about Musk or SpaceX, he demonstrated something that students of human nature have understood for centuries. St. Thomas Aquinas observed that humans are not primarily driven by incentives. Rather, we strive toward ends through prudent means. We orient ourselves around purposes we believe are worth our effort, our capital, and sometimes our entire livelihood.
When Musk shared his mission, he gave people something to order themselves around. And people followed, through failure after failure, because the mission was real enough to hold them…well, at least Thiel.
But Aquinas points toward an ultimate end, God. As Christian investors, we already know this to be true. We have organized our lives around a mission the world doesn't always find rational. But it carries eternal weight.
The SpaceX story is a strong reminder that conviction, genuinely held and pursued without apology, has a gravity of its own. But infinitely stronger with the ultimate reality of Christ. "With God, all things are possible." (Mt 19:26)
Have a blessed week!
Matt
For informational purposes only. This content does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice, nor a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
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For informational purposes only. This content does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice, nor a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
30-Second Investment Terms and Strategies
Tombstone
A tombstone is the formal public announcement of a completed securities offering, traditionally printed in black and white with a stark, bordered design resembling a grave marker.
What it is: A printed or digital notice disclosing the issuer, the amount raised, the type of security offered, and the underwriting banks that managed the transaction. It marks the official close of a deal.
Purpose: To formally announce a completed offering to the market. Historically placed as advertisements in financial publications like the Wall Street Journal, tombstones serve as a public record of who did the deal and who led it.
Where it's used: Equity offerings, debt issuances, IPOs, and private placements across investment banking and capital markets. When SpaceX goes public, Goldman Sachs and 20 other underwriting banks will appear on that tombstone.
Why it matters: The tombstone is the finish line, and by the time it's printed, the value creation is largely behind it. The investors, bankers, and insiders who participated earliest captured the most.
For informational purposes only. This content does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice, nor a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
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