SpaceX IPO Creates Wave of Employee Millionaires — From Engineers to Welders

SpaceX is set to price its IPO at $135 per share, valuing the company at roughly $1.77 trillion in what is shaping up to be the largest initial public offering in history. The debut will unlock life-changing wealth for thousands of current and former employees across all levels of the company — not just executives and engineers, but rocket technicians, maritime officers, baristas, and contract workers who received equity as part of their compensation.

The stories behind these windfalls are striking in their range. J. André Lavoie, a former SpaceX engineer who left the company in 2015 and relocated to northern Italy, is sitting on a stake worth more than $28 million at the IPO price. He's already been renovating a hotel in the small town of Pontebba and is now contemplating funding a community-wide shift away from wood-burning heat. He notes that the relentless rise in share value has repeatedly scrambled his retirement plans. Juan Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant who taught himself to weld for the pay, joined SpaceX as a $28-per-hour contractor in 2015 with no idea what the company did. He was eventually hired full time and received an initial equity grant valued at just $10,000. By steadily buying more shares through payroll deductions and selling chunks as the valuation climbed — starting when SpaceX hit $36 billion in 2020 — he built a Texas real-estate portfolio with his wife. His remaining shares are worth around $880,000 at the IPO price.

Maryellyn Musselman, 27, joined SpaceX in 2022 as an engineering officer on a vessel that recovered rocket parts from the ocean off Florida. She voluntarily directed 10% of her paycheck into equity on top of her standard grant, betting it would seed a future business. She hasn't decided whether to sell immediately, calling it an eleventh-hour decision. Her goal: own a repair-focused business in Chesapeake, Virginia.

The broader employee base has already been cashing out in waves. SpaceX has run secondary sales roughly twice a year, allowing staff and early investors to sell to other insiders. Former employees describe using those proceeds to pay off student loans, purchase parents' vacation homes, fund fertility treatments, and launch startups. Early grants that were worth under $2 per share — before multiple stock splits — have multiplied dramatically as the company's valuation soared. Most insiders will face standard lockup restrictions for several months after the IPO, though SpaceX has provisions that could allow some employees to sell limited quantities as early as July.