Although Elon Musk could soon become the first billionaire, the public debut of his rocket company SpaceX should change the lives of its current and former employees as well.
As Trevor Heiss was about to graduate in 2011, his parents wanted him to take what they considered a stable job at General Electric. But Heise landed an internship at a startup he loved. Against his parents' advice, he stayed with the then young company for the next 12 years.
The startup was Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Today, Heiss owns more than 100.000 shares of SpaceX stock that he earned while working there. With the rocket maker expected to go public at $135 a share, Hayes' shares in SpaceX are likely worth at least $13,5 million.
"The magnitude of this is absurd," Hayes, 37, told The New York Times.
Photo: Unsplash/anirudhSpaceX
From doubters to very proud parents
Heiss, whose parents wanted him to reject SpaceX, says he understood their concerns in 2011.
"At the time, the prevailing view was that SpaceX was an unproven startup that wouldn't last long," Heiss recalled in a statement to The New York Times.
But his "gamble" in the company made more and more sense, as the value of his shares rose along with SpaceX's valuation.
Heiss occasionally sold stocks, for example to pay for his wedding and a down payment on a house, but he kept most of it.
After leaving SpaceX in 2023, Heiss invested in several real estate businesses.
When asked by a New York Times reporter what his parents think about everything now, who thought that SpaceX was not the right career choice, Heiss answered briefly: "They are very proud."
Photo: Unsplash/sven piperSpaceX headquarters
Huge money on the stock market
SpaceX's journey to the stock market has been defined by a series of superlatives. It's the largest ever initial public offering of the most dominant space company, all directed by the richest man in the world. Space X is preparing to offer shares on the stock exchange for as much as $1,77 trillion.
SpaceX's initial public offering is expected to make many rich people even richer. First in line is, of course, Musk, who is likely to become the world's first billionaire. His friends will also make billions.
But one group of people is about to make a life-changing fortune for the first time: current and former SpaceX employees. The company has 22.000 employees. For many, the work will soon pay off through the actions that were part of their compensation.
More than 4.400 current and former SpaceX employees are likely to become millionaires, according to an analysis by investment platform Hill.com. About 400 of them are expected to earn $100 million or more.
"With most IPOs, you tend to see only the founders become billionaires. It's unusual to have 400 people at the $100 million mark. That speaks to the tremendous wealth that's being created here," Andrew Benson, founder and CEO of Hill.com, which facilitated SpaceX's private equity listing, told The New York Times.
Photo: Unsplash/SpaceXSpaceX
A multi-year investment in stocks has paid off
Among the former employees of SpaceX, one of the future millionaires is Gavin Petit (42), who joined the company in 2012 as an engineer who supervised launches. At the time, SpaceX awarded him several thousand shares in addition to his annual salary of $80.000. Each share was worth $13,80.
Over the years, Petit decided to convert his company's bonuses into more stock. This was considered risky because SpaceX's rockets had not yet been proven and could fail.
Pettit told The New York Times that it was uncertain whether his job would survive, but that he had to stay with the company for five or more years until he acquired enough shares to make money on them.
He sometimes sold his shares at semiannual "liquidity events," where employees could sell their private shares to other buyers. That sale helped him pay off his house in Denver. But he mostly kept his shares and now has more than 50.000, enough to make him a multi-millionaire.
Source: New York Times
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