Former Clinton Labor Secretary Urges Dems To Lay “The Groundwork For Nationalizing” SpaceX, Now Worth About $2 Trillion
Robert Reich wants Democrats to seize control of a $2 trillion company that millions of ordinary Americans now own shares in, and Elon Musk responded with a threat that sent Reich straight to Substack.
Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor in Bill Clinton’s first administration from 1993 to 1997, is telling Democrats to start preparing for a government takeover of the most valuable company Elon Musk controls. He made the comments on the Coffee Klatch podcast hosted by Heather Lofthouse, in a clip RealClearPolitics posted on Oct. 25, 2026. “We’ve got to defund Musk,” Reich said, adding that Democrats should be “laying the groundwork for nationalizing Starlink and SpaceX. Nationalize it.”
His target is SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX | SPCX Price Prediction). It is now a public company, and part of it is owned by individual investors who bought since its June IPO.
Musk Answers With “Prison for Reich”
Musk replied on X: “Stealing companies is a serious crime. Prison for Reich.” On Oct. 27, Reich answered in a Substack post titled “Musk Wants Me Imprisoned”. In it he repeated that Democrats should to “defund Musk” and lay “the groundwork for nationalizing” Starlink and SpaceX. “I assure you I’m not going to be intimidated by a tweet by Musk,” he wrote. He plans to keep criticizing decisions about Starlink service to Ukraine that, in his view, “should be made by people who are responsible for U.S. foreign policy rather than by an unaccountable tycoon.”
Reich’s Case Rests on Pentagon Dependence
On the podcast, Reich gave his reasoning: “75% of his wealth is dependent on taxpayers who are buying Starlink systems for the Department of Defense.” That figure is Reich’s own claim. SpaceX’s disclosures do not break out how much of its revenue or valuation comes from government work, so the number can’t be checked against them.
The company does have a large government business. Its latest quarterly disclosure lists multi-year Starshield contracts from the Space Force worth over $6B, 18 National Security Space Launch missions in the pipeline and three more NASA ISS crew missions. Enterprise and government revenue grew 91% YoY.
Who Owns the Company Reich Wants Nationalized
SpaceX began trading on NASDAQ on June 12, 2026, the IPO priced at $135 a share, raised $86 billion and set aside 30% of shares for retail investors. As of 7:53 PM ET Oct. 27, shares stood at $148.58, up 1.14% on the day. That means IPO buyers are currently above their purchase price, though prices move.
The company is worth about $2 trillion .
The business is growing quickly. In its third-quarter earnings exhibit filed with the SEC, SpaceX reported revenue of $14.60 billion, beating the $13.02B consensus, and GAAP net income of $4.40 billion, compared with a net loss of $1.10B a year earlier. The AI unit brought in $7.6B, more than Connectivity at $5.2B or Space at $1.8B. Our coverage of how SpaceX’s AI business overtook Starlink explains that shift. Starlink had 13.6 million consumer subscribers.
Critics Say a Takeover Would Chill Innovation
Reason’s Robby Soave argued on Oct. 27 that nationalizing SpaceX would punish innovation. In his view, the move “disincentivizes investment and innovation at a time when they’re desperately needed.” He also wrote that taking over Starlink could risk escalation with Russia and would do nothing to help Ukraine. Soave grouped Reich with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as critics of the tech industry.
A Podcast Remark Days Before the Midterms
Reich holds no office. No bill, party platform or administration has proposed nationalizing SpaceX. The exchange comes about a week before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, and Reich wrote that he will “campaign like crazy for Democrats” before the vote.
What Shareholders Should Track From Here
For SpaceX shareholders today, Reich’s comments are political commentary with no policy behind them. Two things are worth tracking. The first is whether any lawmaker or candidate takes up the idea after the midterms. The second is any change to SpaceX’s government contracts, including the Starshield and national security launch work that Reich’s argument depends on. Either would give the debate more weight than a podcast clip has.
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AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
