$28 Per Hour Welding Job To $880,000 Payout: How SpaceX IPO Changed One Employee's Life

Several SpaceX employees are set to earn millions of dollars as the rocket and satellite maker prepares to go public. One of them is Juan Hernandez, whose life has already been changed by early SpaceX shares. According to The Wall Street Journal, Hernandez was a welder who initially worked for $28 an hour. He is now sitting on an $880,000 payout. After immigrating to the United States from Mexico, he learned how to weld to secure better pay. Then in 2015, he came across a job opportunity at SpaceX.

"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 as saying in the report.

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Hernandez joined SpaceX in its early years, working on the factory floor and earning 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. 

He was reportedly given an equity stake valued at $10,000 that vested over five years. And over the years, he used a portion of his paycheck to buy more shares.

As SpaceX's valuation soared alongside successful rocket launches, the expansion of Starlink, and private funding rounds, those shares appreciated dramatically. What began as a modest equity grant is now worth close to $880,000 on paper.

According to the report, he 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 story highlights Elon Musk's approach to rewarding early employees with equity instead of just a salary. For workers who joined before SpaceX became a launch giant, that bet has paid off in a big way. Hernandez's success is not unique; multiple early SpaceX employees have seen similar life-changing gains.

According to the report, some employees have held on to stakes that were valued at less than $2 per share at the time they got it.

SpaceX IPO Launch

SpaceX has 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.

While an oversubscription rate of two times would be considered modest for most highly anticipated market flotations, bankers and investors said that demand is impressive for the SpaceX offering since it is the largest IPO ever.

SpaceX is targeting a roughly $1.8 trillion valuation at a price of $135 per share.