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Google’s Project Suncatcher to put ML infrastructure in space

233 points · 553 comments · xnx

nova22033 · 1790280227 · focus · HN ↗
Alphabet holds approximately 551 million shares of SpaceX (trading under the ticker SPCX), valued at roughly $94.1 billion, which represents about a 4% to 6% stake in the company.
1. foota · 1790281250 · focus · HN ↗
  It's a little crazy they haven't tried to sell it off yet. Maybe they don't want to trigger a bank rush or they're limited in their ability to do so?
  1. altmanaltman · 1790285375 · focus · HN ↗
    They invested $900 million[1] in 2015, and it is worth $94.1 billion today. Why sell? They also likely have restrictions on selling post-IPO, but I don't think you can trigger a "bank run" on a stock anyway; the price will just keep adjusting as you sell/buy until it gets absurd.
    A bank run happens when everyone tries to withdraw all their money at the same time and the bank runs out of cash. Not really possible in the stock market where companies literally can create/destroy shares and there is a whole secondary pricing layer to it.
    1. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/alphabets-spacex-bet-grows-100-fold-over-decade-94-billion-2026-08-14/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/alphabets-spacex-be...
    foota · 1790294045 · focus · HN ↗
    "A bank run happens when everyone tries to withdraw all their money at the same time and the bank runs out of cash. Not really possible in the stock market where companies literally can create/destroy shares and there is a whole secondary pricing layer to it." Sure, it's not possible for stocks to become insolvent in the same way, but if a large shareholder sells it could trigger a panic and greatly decrease the price.

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