Reports claim that SpaceX employees are set to cash out on millions of dollars after the company goes public. According to the Wall Street Journal, Juan Hernandez — one of the employees who was a welder making $28 an hour, and had already significantly benefited from early SpaceX shares — is set to get a $880,000 payout.
Hernandez had learned to weld to secure better pay after immigrating from Mexico to the United States. He came across a job opportunity at SpaceX in 2015.
“I didn’t even know what SpaceX was when my friend was talking about it, but the money was sufficient at the time,” the 42-year-old was quoted in the report.
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When Hernandez began at SpaceX, he worked on the factory floor and earned an hourly wage like many other technicians. He began as a contractor at $28 per hour before being hired full-time. Along with his paycheck came stock options, which many say are a standard part of SpaceX’s compensation for early hires.
The report mentioned he was given an equity stake valued at $10,000 that vested over five years. Over the years, he used a portion of his paycheck to buy more shares.
The shares significantly rose after SpaceX’s valuation increased alongside successful rocket launches. What began as a modest equity grant is now worth close to $880,000 on paper.
The report also mentioned that Hernandez sold small portions of his SpaceX stake in 2020, using the money to purchase properties around Texas and start a small-scale real estate business with his wife.
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“It’s put me in a comfortable position for life,” said Hernandez. The report noted that he left SpaceX last year and now works as a welder at Blue Origin’s rocket-launch site.
The report also mentioned that Hernandez’s story is not unique; multiple early SpaceX employees have seen similar life-changing gains. Some employees had held on to stakes that were valued at less than $2 per share at the time they got it.
SpaceX had filed for a U.S. initial public offering two months ago. The company had drawn investor demand of about $150 billion for its IPO, about double the $75 billion it is seeking to raise, Reuters reported on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The company is targeting a roughly $1.8 trillion valuation at a price of $135 per share.