SpaceX’s record-setting market debut is poised to turn thousands of workers into millionaires, stretching the impact of Elon Musk’s rocket company far beyond Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
The company completed its initial public offering on June 12, 2026, after pricing shares at $135 each and raising $75 billion. The offering valued SpaceX at $1.77 trillion before trading began. By the end of its first day on Nasdaq, shares closed at $160.95, lifting the company’s market value to about $2.1 trillion.
The New York Times reported that more than 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees could become millionaires through stock earned as part of their compensation. About 400 could reach $100 million or more, based on an analysis by Hill.com, the San Francisco investment platform that has facilitated private SpaceX share trades.
That wealth will not flow only to executives. The pool includes launch engineers, blue-collar workers, cafeteria staff, baristas, janitors, welders, and employees who kept SpaceX operating through years of risky rocket development.
Trevor Hise, a former launch engineer, built a stake of more than 100,000 shares after joining SpaceX instead of taking what his parents considered a safer job at General Electric. At the IPO price, his shares were worth at least $13.5 million. “The magnitude of this has been ridiculous,” Hise said.
Former SpaceX welder Juan Hernandez told CBS News he received $10,000 in stock when he joined in 2015 and now holds about 6,500 shares. That stake was worth nearly $880,000 at the IPO price and more than $1 million after the first trading day.
Former engineer J. André Lavoie holds shares valued above $28 million at the IPO price, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Tom Mueller, SpaceX’s first employee, holds an estimated stake valued at $1.1 billion, according to Forbes. Mueller said Musk warned early teams that equity would matter most. “Elon always said that ‘Your salary is one thing, but it’s the equity that’s gonna be worth something.’ And we are all like, ‘Yeah, okay someday,’” Mueller said. “That day is here. It’s great.”
Employees still face lock-up periods that limit when they can sell after the IPO. Still, the listing marks a rare wealth event for workers who took equity while SpaceX was unproven.
