Robert Cyran

Few harness tech hype and greed like Elon Musk, a ​modern alloy of Wernher ​von Braun and PT Barnum. Despite ⁠a crazed valuation, shares in ​his rockets-to-chatbot firm leapt 11% on ​launch. That sets the stage for other debutants to put a market value on ​humanity’s salvation or doom.

As his rocket-maker’s shares soar, Elon Musk’s wealth now stands at $1.4 trln. That’s 4% ​of US GDP, more than ​double Gilded Age titan John D ⁠Rockefeller’s hoard. The power this ​offers, even over governments, is immense. Yet ​it may prove more fleeting than empires of old.

Shale companies can drill wells quickly ​when prices spike. Yet ​when Iran presented the opportunity, ⁠they chose profit over ramping ​US production above 14 ​mln barrels a day. Exxon and Chevron revealed preferences for grinding out ​asset values from a ​mature industry.

As the $1 trln drugmaker’s smash-hit obesity treatments shrink waistlines, its ​cashflow and valuation are ​swelling. Gilead, Moderna and Pfizer show ⁠how hard it is to ​put such a windfall to ​good use. Deals may just destroy value. Buying back wildly expensive stock definitely ​will.

Combined, the US oil giants made $27 bln in ‌quarterly profit, or three times as much as a year ago. The Iran war means bumper petroleum and refining margins. With ​President Trump warning about high gasoline prices, energy ​bosses keep their heads down, talking about efficiency.

The $1.7 trln satellites-to-AI company’s first post-IPO results ​show revenue ascending 92%. ​Yet blockbuster deals with Anthropic ⁠and Alphabet offer only short-term ​thrust. For boss Elon Musk, ​reaching sustainable orbit is more about cracking truly cheap space transit.

The biotech’s equity value rose over 100% ‌on news that a trial of a new vaccine prevented recurrence in melanoma. A profit share with Merck means ​the market is implying sales may reach a ​stunning $13 bln a year, a tally that ⁠considers applications beyond skin cancer.

Former CEOs ‌walk a tricky line as executive chairs. Apple's will help his successor make the move ​to managing supply chains and soothing ​politicians. John Ternus can't be looking over ⁠his shoulder for long, however, as ​he tries to build on a 15-year, ​2,700% shareholder return.

Why ‌buy Hugging Face? There’s no obvious return from the open AI platform, but the ​price is only 0.2% of the ​chip maker's $5.5 trln value. There is ⁠merit though in fostering machine learning ​broadly and blocking the emergence of an ​all-dominant closed rival making its own chips.

Tech moguls’ “move fast ‌and break things” ethos is a bad fit for chatbots posing catastrophic risks. As security ​incidents proliferate, regulation becomes inevitable. Pharmaceutical ​trials offer a template for products ⁠promising life-changing benefits, but with heavy uncertainty.