Why Buying SpaceX Shares Right Now Might Be a Fool’s Errand, According to Venture Capitalist Bradley Tusk

When you hear the name SpaceX, the mind instantly drifts to rockets, Mars, and Elon Musk’s boundless ambition. It’s tempting to think, "Hey, I should own a piece of that future." But according to Bradley Tusk, the founder of Tusk Ventures, that line of thinking is, frankly, a bit nuts.

In a recent CNBC interview, Tusk laid it out in plain English: SpaceX isn’t a publicly traded company, and the few private‑market transactions that do happen are anything but ordinary. They happen in a murky secondary‑market world where price tags often bear little relation to fundamentals and even more to hype.

“It would be crazy for anyone to buy shares of SpaceX at this point,” he said, with a chuckle that hinted at the exasperation he feels watching so many eager investors chase a dream they can’t really grasp. He went on to note that most of the recent trades are being done by insiders or institutional players who have a long‑term lock‑up and, more importantly, a deep pocket to weather the volatility.

There’s a bigger picture here, too. The valuations floating around for SpaceX have ballooned to astronomical numbers—some analysts argue north of $150 billion. Tusk warned that such lofty estimates leave little room for error. “If you’re paying a $100 billion price tag for a company that still has a lot of engineering risk, you’re basically buying a lottery ticket,” he explained.

Liquidity, another critical factor, is practically non‑existent for most would‑be shareholders. Even if you managed to get a slice on the secondary market, finding a buyer later could be a nightmare. “It’s not like buying Apple stock where you can sell it the next day if you need cash,” Tusk remarked.

And let’s not forget the regulatory environment. SpaceX operates in a heavily regulated aerospace sector, and any misstep—be it a launch failure or a regulatory snag—could instantly knock the valuation down a few notches.

Bradley Tusk isn’t trying to be a buzzkill; he’s simply pointing out the difference between owning a piece of a thriving public company and getting a vague, overpriced ticket to a private venture still in its teenage years. He advises investors to keep a healthy dose of skepticism, focus on companies with transparent financials, and avoid the siren song of hype.

So, if you’re still tempted to throw money at SpaceX’s private shares, perhaps take a step back, read the fine print, and ask yourself: am I buying a rocket or a gamble? The answer, according to Tusk, leans heavily toward the latter—at least for now.