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The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission has set several space records, including being the first to help with a private spacewalk.
One of the individuals on the potentially dangerous spacewalk mission is the CEO of a publicly traded company. Should shareholders be concerned?
What Happened: Billionaire Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis completed the first private spacewalk Thursday as part of the Polaris Dawn mission.
The accomplishment is incredibly rare and risky, and had previously been reserved for astronauts of national space programs, Reuters reported.
While he may not be a household name like other famous astronauts like Neil Armstrong and John Glenn, Isaacman could be better known to stock investors. The entrepreneur and pilot is the founder and CEO of publicly traded Shift4 Payments Inc (NYSE:FOUR).
As SpaceX employees and Polaris Dawn mission members Scott Poteet and Anna Menon anxiously watched Isaacman and Gillis leave the vessel on tethers, Shift4 Payments shareholders were likely watching nervously as well.
Isaacman and the crew have been orbiting Earth since Tuesday as part of the mission that the billionaire has bankrolled. This isn't his first venture into space, as he also funded a 2021 space flight that was the first private, all-civilian mission that orbited the Earth.
"Back at home we all have a lot of work to do. But from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world," Isaacman said Thursday outside the spacecraft.
One of the main risks of Thursday's spacewalk was the astronauts counting on their spacesuits, that SpaceX developed, for oxygen as the capsule was depressurized. Thursday's mission, designed to test SpaceX’s capabilities and prepare for future missions, was similar to a U.S. spacewalk in 1965, according to a Reuters report.
Why It's Important: While it's not Shift4 Payments paying for the flight, the space aspirations of Isaacman could prove to be a risk to shareholders and the company.
In any annual report of a publicly traded company, you’ll find multiple pages detailing risk factors. For companies led by founders or co-founders, one common risk is the potential impact of the CEO's death or resignation, which could significantly affect the company's future direction and performance.
Other billionaires who have ventured to space that run companies include Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos.
Branson took flight with a capsule from the company he founded, Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE), and Bezos went to space in a capsule from the company he founded, Blue Origin. Neither billionaire ventured as far into space as Isaacman did, but they also faced risks.
However, Branson was not the CEO of Virgin Galactic when he went to space. Similarly, when Bezos ventured into space on July 20, 2021, he had just recently stepped down as Amazon’s CEO on July 5.
Flights aboard any spacecraft still carry a degree of risk, even with SpaceX's success in the sector.
There is also the risk that missions last longer than anticipated, with the Boeing (NYSE:BA) Starliner mission seeing two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station, waiting for their safe arrival back home.
CEOs are free to do what they want depending on their contract and as the founder and CEO of the company, Isaacman likely has more say in what he can and can't do when it comes to his plans to continue traveling to space.
For comparison, professional athletes have seen clauses in their contracts increase as to what they can do in the offseason as teams worry about injuries outside the season that could have a material impact on the team's success.
As a Detroit Tigers fan, it's impossible to forget that pitcher Joel Zumaya once injured his hand while playing the video game "Guitar Hero" and missed part of the season.
Several athletes have also taken part in wrestling matches, which has drawn pushback from team officials, as ESPN reported.
ESPN said many NFL players have contracts that mention not being able to play basketball for fear of injury.
A 2023 jet ski injury to Buffalo Bills player Nyheim Hines cost him the entire NFL season with ACL and MCL injuries. The team put the player on the non-football injury list and attempted to not pay him for the entire season before coming to an agreement for a lower salary amount.
A motorcycle accident for former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in 2006 saw him miss one game and play hurt for part of the season, and had NFL officials reconsidering what their players could do in the offseason.
While competing in physical sports isn’t the same as a trip to space, both involve significant risks. A CEO of a publicly traded company completing the first private spacewalk is a remarkable achievement, but it also introduces potential risks for owning Shift4 Payments shares in the future.
FOUR Price Action: Shift4 Payments shares trade at $80.40 versus a 52-week trading range of $42.91 to $92.30.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
