The SpaceX IPO is creating a stir for thousands of current and former employees
Employees at SpaceXs facility in Hawthorne, California, share their thoughts on the company’s first offering. (Fox News Digital Splash News)
SpaceX A record-setting IPO creating financial incentives for thousands of current and former employees of the company who received stock as part of their compensation.
Employees who own shares in non-public companies are subject to restrictions that may prevent them from selling those shares under many circumstances before an IPO takes place. Once a stock goes public, it starts a timeline where they can start selling some of those shares as so-called “close-out periods” gradually allow employees to sell shares in increasing amounts over time.
The standards of SpaceX employees those who will see an influx of wealth from the IPO include not only those who designed the rockets and satellites that made the company famous, but also the baristas, janitors and other workers who helped keep the company running.
FOX Business spoke with employees outside the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, California, about their plans to make the massive IPO a reality.
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SpaceX employees and former employees who received stock options have the opportunity to cash in immediately following the company’s IPO. (Reuters/Veronica G. Cardenas/File Photo)
A SpaceX employee, who said he was an organizer of the process, said he wanted to “try to stay healthy” and that the IPO was “a good thing… Elon is an excellent host. Go Elon!”
One SpaceX employee said, “I’ve been a millionaire for a long time, but it’s always nice to have money. It will be nice when the shutdown is over, yes, and we can actually sell some of it and that will feel a little more rich, but it’s a good day.”
Juan Hernandez, who once worked as a welder at SpaceX, told CBS News that when he was first hired by the company in 2015 he was given $10,000 in stock. He explained that it was “no big deal” to him at the time and, “I didn’t know it was going to be big, at this point.”
| A ticker | Security | Finally | Change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPCX | SPAE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP. | 160.95 | +25,95 |
+ 19.22% |
Hernandez, who now works at Blue Origin after a 10-year stint at SpaceX, told CBS that he owns about 6,500,500 shares of SpaceX that would represent about $880,000 based on the IPO price list of $135 a share. He added that giving employees stock options motivates them to “perform a lot better because, I mean… it’s their company again.”
He further said that he wants to maintain a strong work ethic after the IPO as well plans to continue workingand expressed gratitude to Musk for “making all of these lives so much better and more meaningful for their families as well.”
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire following an IPO. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP via Getty Images)
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The Wall Street Journal reports that J. André Lavoie, a 63-year-old SpaceX engineer who moved to Italy five years ago, has shares worth more than $28 million based on the IPO price. Lavoie plans to use the money to renovate the hotel he bought and is considering helping others in the community switch from burning wood to clean heating systems.
“I don’t want to just die with a bunch of money in the bank,” Lavoie told the Journal. He went on to say that the increase in the share price has made him reconsider his plans. “Every year the stocks have been going up a lot which is messing up my life plans.”
The Journal also spoke with 27-year-old Maryellen Musselman, who joined SpaceX in 2022 and worked on a spacecraft used to retrieve rocket parts from the company’s crashed launches. on the coast of Florida.
Musselman used 10% of his salary to buy more shares during his two years at SpaceX and said that while he wasn’t sure how quickly he would look to sell, he said it could be an “11th hour decision.”
SpaceX’s IPO was the largest in history, raising nearly $75 billion. (Joe Skipper/Reuters)
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He wants to use the money to help him start a ship repair business in Chesapeake, Virginia, saying, “Seafarers don’t usually own shares in their companies, they don’t always get the benefits.”
Tom Mueller, who was hired as SpaceX’s first employee in 2002 and led projects including the Merlin Engine that powers the Falcon 9 rocket, the Raptor Engine that powers the Starship and other critical breathing systems, told FOX Business’ “Claman Countdown“Thursday that the IPO will change the lives of workers.
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“Elon always said ‘Your salary is one thing, but equity is worth something.’ And we’re all like, ‘Yeah, okay one day,'” Mueller said. “That day has come. Good.”
