SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic: S&P 500 Inclusion Controversy and Investment Implications

NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran analyzes whether SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic should be included in the S&P 500 after their IPOs. He breaks down index construction, including constituent selection, weighting methods, and index unit conversion mechanisms. He notes that the S&P 500 uses free-float market capitalization weighting, and that the June 15, 2026 closing level of 7554.29 corresponds to an index unit of 0.1190.