SpaceX and Amazon look like tech twins—but their financials tell a very different story

Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, now command a combined market value of roughly $4.5 trillion. In a new Fortune report, my colleague Amanda Gerut examines why investors appear willing to assign Amazon-like valuation multiples to a company generating about one-twentieth of Amazon’s revenue while still reporting operating losses. The comparison raises important questions about capital discipline, risk pricing, and the durability of today’s “AI and infrastructure” valuation premium.

Gerut argues that Amazon and SpaceX are evolving into converging infrastructure conglomerates. Both operate satellite internet networks. Both are investing aggressively in hyperscale data centers and AI infrastructure. And both are betting that owning the underlying “pipes”—whether in orbit or on the ground—will create durable competitive advantages and pricing power across multiple businesses.

“If you squint, you can see them as doppelgängers with one big difference—or, more accurately, nearly 700 billion differences,” she writes. “Amazon generated $716.9 billion in revenue in 2025 and $80 billion in operating income, compared with SpaceX’s $18.7 billion in revenue and a $2.6 billion operating loss.”

For finance executives, the broader question extends beyond rockets and e-commerce. The analysis explores the widening gap between narrative-driven valuations and current financial performance—and what that means for capital allocation, cost of capital, competitive strategy, and the inevitable boardroom question: Why can’t we earn a SpaceX multiple?

Whether SpaceX ultimately proves to be the next Amazon or a cautionary tale about growth expectations, the comparison offers a timely case study in how markets price optionality, platform economics, and founder-led companies pursuing trillion-dollar opportunities long before the earnings arrive. You can read the complete article here.

Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com

Leaderboard

Erica Smith was appointed CFO of Klaviyo (NYSE: KVYO), an autonomous B2C CRM, effective Sept. 1. Smith will succeed Amanda Whalen, who announced in May her plan to step down as CFO. Whalen will remain employed with Klaviyo until Sept. 4, and will then move into an advisory role through November. Smith joins Klaviyo from CyberArk, recently acquired by Palo Alto Networks, where she previously served as CFO. At CyberArk and, earlier, at Demandware, she led investor relations programs, expanded sell-side research coverage, and guided both public companies through financings.

Robin Rossmann was promoted to CFO of CoStar Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSGP), a provider of online real estate marketplaces, effective July 31, succeeding Christian Lown, who is stepping down to pursue an opportunity outside the company’s industry. Rossmann currently serves as CoStar Group’s managing director for Europe, and is a member of the company’s executive leadership team. Over the past decade with STR and CoStar Group, he has played a central role in launching CoStar Group products across global markets, executing and integrating acquisitions, scaling international operations and advancing strategic initiatives.

Big Deal

The Work AI Index 2026 by Glean finds that 87% of digital workers surveyed use AI and say it saves them about 11 hours a week. However, only 13% report that their organization is actually performing significantly better as a result, highlighting a widening “operating gap” between adoption and outcomes.

The report argues that much of this shortfall comes from “botsitting”: employees spending more time feeding AI context, checking outputs, and fixing mistakes than generating net-new work. About 69% admit they ship AI-assisted work they have not fully verified or don’t fully understand.

The report suggests emphasizing better data and context, tighter performance measures, and intentional workflow design.

Going deeper

Overheard

“If you are not talking to your CFO all the time, your CIO, your CTO, any business constituent around that C-suite table, you really are at a disadvantage.” 

—Lara Balazs, Adobe’s chief marketing officer, told Fortune in an interview. Balazs discussed the evolution of marketing’s scope beyond campaigns into enterprise-level decisions, from technology and data infrastructure to workflow design and capital allocation alongside creative and media.