Benjamin Graham, often called the father of value investing, died in 1976.
So thankfully, he never had to decide whether to invest in a company planning orbital data centres, artificial intelligence infrastructure and a million-person colony on Mars.
But it does raise an interesting question.
Would Benjamin Graham buy SpaceX?
Our guess?
Probably not.
And we suspect he would say “no” with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
Before we go any further, let’s acknowledge something.
SpaceX is an extraordinary company.
Reusable rockets.
Starlink.
Human spaceflight.
Achievements that many experts once considered impossible.
Benjamin Graham admired successful businesses.
He appreciated innovation.
He respected capable management.
But Graham’s job wasn’t to identify great stories.
His job was to identify attractive investments.
And those are not always the same thing.
Graham’s famous character, Mr Market, was emotional.
Some days, he was gloomy.
Other days, he was wildly enthusiastic.
Looking at the proposed valuation of SpaceX, Graham might conclude that Mr Market had been drinking rocket fuel.
Not because the company lacks ambition.
Quite the opposite.
Moon manufacturing.
Mars colonies.
Asteroid mining.
Artificial intelligence infrastructure.
High-speed rocket travel.
Frankly, if you put all those ideas into one movie script, Hollywood might reject it for being unrealistic.
Yet here we are.
SpaceX generated almost US$18.7 billion in revenue during 2025.
Impressive.
But by March 2026, the company had accumulated losses exceeding US$41 billion and carried roughly US$29 billion in debt, including a US$20 billion bridge loan arranged shortly before the IPO.
None of this means SpaceX will fail.
Amazon lost money for years.
Tesla survived many near-death experiences.
But Benjamin Graham preferred facts over possibilities.
He liked profits.
He liked strong balance sheets.
And above all, he liked a margin of safety.
There is nothing particularly safe about betting on a million-person colony on Mars.
Nobody rushes home from work saying:
“Honey, let’s spend the evening reading company constitutions.”
Yet governance matters.
Who controls the company?
How much influence do shareholders really have?
What protections exist if management makes poor decisions?
These questions are not exciting.
But they are important.
SpaceX’s structure gives Elon Musk overwhelming voting control.
Benjamin Graham understood that talented leaders are valuable.
But he also understood that no individual should be beyond challenge.
History suggests that genius and unchecked power are not always comfortable travelling companions.
Benjamin Graham might have admired SpaceX enormously.
He might have marvelled at reusable rockets.
He might have proudly owned a Starlink dish.
He might even have thought Mars was a wonderful idea.
But admiration and investment are two different things.
His question was never:
“Is this amazing?”
His question was:
“At this price, with these risks, what is my margin of safety?”
That question is just as relevant today as it was eighty years ago.
At Wealthwise, we teach that successful investing isn’t about predictions.
It’s about frameworks.
Frameworks help investors think clearly when everybody else is getting carried away.
Because markets have always loved exciting stories.
Railways.
Radio.
Dot-coms.
Cryptocurrency.
Artificial intelligence.
And now perhaps Mars.
Some dreams become reality.
Some do not.
But investors who rely on excitement rather than a framework often discover that gravity still works.
Even when rockets don’t.
Markets don’t care about our politics, our opinions or who we admire.
They don’t reward enthusiasm or punish ideology.
They simply present opportunities and risks.
As investors, our job is to understand the difference.
Benjamin Graham understood that.
Perhaps that is why, if he were alive today, he might admire SpaceX the company … while quietly waiting for Mr Market to sober up.
Sources
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