SpaceX IPO Mints Thousands of Millionaires as Musk Eyes Moon and Mars

Elon Musk says SpaceX's June IPO has turned thousands of ordinary workers — including assembly line employees and welders — into millionaires, citing the company's roughly $2 trillion market capitalization at listing. Speaking by phone on a Fox News program hosted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Musk said early employees working in production roles likely hold stock now worth over $1 million each. Pre-IPO estimates from Hill Markets founder Andrew Benson put the number of newly minted millionaires at around 4,400, with over 400 employees crossing the centimillionaire threshold.

SpaceX's equity culture was by design. Musk described a longstanding philosophy of granting stock to everyone at the company — at hiring, during annual reviews, and upon promotion — so workers share directly in the company's financial success. Employees were also permitted to sell portions of their holdings through private liquidity events held roughly twice a year before the public listing. SpaceX's IPO priced at $135 per share, briefly surged past $200, but had retreated to below $148 by Wednesday's close.

Musk's own wealth crossed $1 trillion briefly following the IPO — a historic milestone. Meanwhile, SpaceX CEO Gwynne Shotwell and her husband made a notable philanthropic gesture, donating approximately $300 million in SpaceX stock to so-called Trump Accounts, a federal program seeding $1,000 investment accounts for every American child born between 2025 and 2028. The donation drew public praise from President Trump.

Beyond the financial story, Musk used the interview to outline SpaceX's long-range ambitions. He said he expects the company to have a lunar base established within a decade and is targeting the first crewed Mars mission in roughly five years, with thousands of people potentially traveling to Mars within 10 to 12 years. Starship, he said, is ultimately designed to haul tens of thousands of tons to both the moon and Mars to build permanent cities on each.