SpaceX’s IPO Could Turn 4,400 Employees Into Millionaires

While Elon Musk may soon become the world's first trillionaire, the public debut of SpaceX is also set to transform the lives of thousands of current and former employees.

In 2011, as Trevor Hise was preparing to graduate from college, his parents encouraged him to take a stable job at General Electric. Instead, he chose to stay with a young startup he loved—SpaceX. He worked there for 12 years.

Today, Hise owns more than 100,000 SpaceX shares earned during his time at the company. With SpaceX expected to go public at $135 per share, his stake could be worth at least $13.5 million. The former launch engineer, now semi-retired at age 37, said the scale of his newfound wealth is hard to believe.

SpaceX’s IPO is expected to be one of the largest in history. The company is projected to debut with a valuation of $1.77 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

The offering will make many wealthy investors even richer, including Elon Musk and early backers. However, it is also expected to create life-changing wealth for thousands of employees who received company stock as part of their compensation.

SpaceX employs around 22,000 people, and many current and former workers—from engineers to hourly launch-site staff—hold shares in the company. According to an analysis by Hill.com, more than 4,400 current and former employees are likely to become millionaires after the IPO. About 400 of them could see their holdings exceed $100 million in value.

Employees Who Benefited

Gavin Petit, who joined SpaceX in 2012 as a launch engineer, received several thousand shares in addition to his $80,000 salary. At the time, each share was worth just $13.80.

Over the years, Petit chose to take bonuses in stock rather than cash. Although it was considered risky because SpaceX was still an unproven company, the decision paid off. He now owns more than 50,000 shares and has already used some of the proceeds from previous stock sales to pay off his home in Denver.

Another former employee, Helvin Bacareza, joined SpaceX in 2020 as a global supply manager and worked there for two years. Despite leaving the company, he accumulated a significant amount of stock and says he has no plans to sell his shares anytime soon.

Some Employees Have Regrets

Not everyone held on to their stock. Some workers believed SpaceX would never go public, especially because Elon Musk often expressed skepticism about publicly traded companies.

According to current and former employees, some early workers sold their shares for relatively small amounts and now deeply regret those decisions as the company prepares for its market debut.

Looking Ahead

After leaving SpaceX in 2023, Trevor Hise invested in real estate ventures. As the IPO approaches, he and his wife have hired a financial planner and are establishing a charitable foundation to donate part of their wealth.

Reflecting on his decision to join SpaceX, Hise said that many people once viewed the company as a risky startup that might not survive. Today, that gamble has paid off beyond what he ever imagined.

His parents, who initially questioned his career choice, are now extremely proud of him.