Episode summary
SpaceX Is a Compelling Investment, Gerber Says
Summary
Ross Gerber argued that SpaceX is still a compelling investment not because of what it is doing today, but because of the optionality in Starship, Starlink and space-based compute. He said the latest Starship flight showed enough progress to suggest a reusable massive rocket is coming sooner than many investors expect, even if major technical hurdles remain.
The biggest new catalyst, in his view, is the Nvidia partnership to build satellite-based data centers in space. Gerber said that combination of Starship and Starlink could enable “star mine” infrastructure that expands what SpaceX can monetize beyond launch and internet connectivity, and he framed that as a high-risk, high-reward bet on future compute demand.
He also pushed back on worries about xAI and heavy capital spending, saying investors are too short-term minded and that the demand for compute exceeds supply. On Starlink, he said the business is only beginning, pointing to 12 million subscribers, a strong quarter, consumer backup demand, and military uses as reasons the growth story is far from mature.
Key takeaways
- Gerber said SpaceX is attractive because only it can combine Starship, Starlink and orbital data centers into one platform.
- He called the Nvidia deal to build space data centers the most important announcement and a major new monetization path.
- Gerber said xAI-related capital spending should pay off because demand for compute is far larger than supply.
- He argued Starlink is still early, citing backup internet demand, 12 million subscribers and military applications.
- He said the stock’s risk is high, but so is the upside if the technology works at scale.
Notable quotes
“I think it's going to be sooner than what people think”
“the fact that they've gotten this far is very encouraging, and I don't think people should doubt whether or not this is actually going to happen”
“I think that's what makes this investment compelling isn't really what it's doing today. But what will this look like in five years”
“it's a high risk investment because obviously all these things can fail. But on the other side it's a high reward investment if they succeed”
How the episode opens
I don't even know how much, uh, usefulness it is. Even go through some of the numbers on a quarterly basis, backwards looking. I know a lot of investors are looking to figure out kind of whether Starship sort of fulfills that promise and whether what's going to be attached to these rockets, presumably, uh, whatever sort of servers and other sort of, uh, orbital data center type of equipment are going to be along for the ride sometime soon.
Well, I think it's going to be sooner than what people think. Judging from the last Starship flight that we saw, which I would consider pretty successful. And and when you look at the size of this thing and the fact that they're now getting it in and out of space without exploding and landing pretty well into the water, um, we're pretty close to having a reusable massive rocket ship, other than many of the technology challenges that they still face.
To get this to work, let's say over and over again in scale. But just the fact that they've gotten this far is very encouraging, and I don't think people should doubt whether or not this is actually going to happen. And she just went, yeah.
And I think that seems to be the consensus. And we certainly seen some degree of a proof of life with regard to that ship. The question, though, becomes, uh, in terms of monetizing this further beyond just being sort of a taxi service, if you will, uh, into space, uh, how much of this gets monetized by space itself with regards to what it's able to put there?
And that flows back into the company for its own, uh, for its own coffers? Yeah. And I thought it was interesting because I thought the most important announcement from SpaceX was their deal with Nvidia to build these, you know, they're calling star mine, uh, data centers in space.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- spacex revenue
- spacex operating loss
- ai business outlook
- investment thesis
- stock ownership
Companies and tickers mentioned
- SpaceX
- Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management
Watch the episode
Watch “SpaceX Is a Compelling Investment, Gerber Says” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from The David Rubenstein Show
-
Strauss Zelnick on GTA VI, Take-Two's Turnaround and AI | The David Rubenstein Show -
Rubenstein on the Anthropic IPO, Nvidia CEO Scandal, GTA VI -
Bridgewater CEO Nir Bar Dea on AI Investing, Markets and Leadership | The David Rubenstein Show -
David Rubenstein on New Book, “Speaking of America” -
Santander's Ana Botin on US Growth, Debt, AI and the Global Economy | The David Rubenstein Show -
J&J CEO Joaquin Duato on Obesity, Cancer and AI | The David Rubenstein Show
The David Rubenstein Show, this episode and its artwork belong to Bloomberg. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.