A cafeteria worker at SpaceX may soon have a brokerage account worth more than most politicians who do not have...
Columns News & Politics Culture Podcasts Videos JOIN VIP LOGIN MY ACCOUNT unread messages Account Settings Messages Newsletter Subscriptions Comment Settings Log Out Authors Podcasts Store Instapundit Columns News & Politics Culture Videos MY ACCOUNT unread messages Account Settings Messages Newsletter Subscriptions Log Out Join VIP LOGIN MY ACCOUNT unread messages Account Settings Messages Newsletter Subscriptions Comment Settings Log Out LOGIN JOIN VIP --> News & Politics Columns Culture Podcasts Videos Store Instapundit Newsletters About Us Contact Us Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy California - CCPA Notice Advertisement SpaceX Just Made Cafeteria Workers Millionaires David Manney | 10:09 PM on June 12, 2026 AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File A cafeteria worker at SpaceX may soon have a brokerage account worth more than most politicians who do not have a (D) after their names will earn in a lifetime.
Think about that. A company built to reach orbit just pulled thousands of ordinary workers into wealth, not by passing a bill or making a promise, but by building something people wanted to own.
SpaceX's public debut turned into the largest IPO in history . Shares opened at $150 after pricing at $135 and then closed at $160.95. The offering raised $75 billion, pushed the company's value above $2 trillion, and turned founder and CEO Elon Musk into the world's first trillionaire. From Breitbart :
Real estate professionals are already experiencing increased interest from SpaceX employees seeking high-end properties. Gerard Bisignano, a partner at Vista Sotheby’s, reports receiving recent inquiries from several longtime SpaceX employees, primarily in their mid-30s to early 40s, searching for homes in California’s South Bay area. The region includes affluent coastal communities such as Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Palos Verdes Estates, all within close proximity to SpaceX’s California headquarters.
“They seem to be in a state of disbelief themselves that they’re suddenly going to be able to, in some examples, buy a home for their parents. They’re going to have all this discretionary income that they can really do what they want,” Bisignano said.
Bisignano anticipates a buying surge similar to the one that followed Facebook’s 2012 initial public offering, when home values in neighborhoods near the company’s headquarters increased by 21 percent. He also expects strong interest in second homes in desirable California locations, including Mammoth Lakes, Palm Springs, and Tahoe.
It's incredible what a trillion dollars can do when it comes from invention instead of redistribution. Cue Bernie, AOC, and Fauxcahontas waxing on about Musk's trillion, but totally ignoring the windfall by so many people. From Reuters :
"For many investors, SpaceX is the closest thing to investing in the railroads during the Industrial Revolution and they are willing to pay the Elon Musk premium for that opportunity," said Seth Hickle, chief investment officer at Mindset Wealth Management in Indianapolis.
Analysts and portfolio managers said investors should brace for volatility, particularly early in SpaceX's life as a public company, due to its small relative float and high valuation. SpaceX's $18.7 billion in revenue gives the company a price-to-revenue ratio of roughly 112, far above other megacap stocks.
"The question remains is, what happens in a couple of weeks from now. Right now, people want to bid the stock higher because it's a winner at this point. Whether it stays that way, that remains to be seen," said Todd Schoenberger, chief investment officer at Crosscheck Management in Washington, D.C.
Retail investors received about 20% of the allocation, far more than the typical IPO, with some even celebrating an allocation of one share.
SpaceX executives, including President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen, celebrated at the Nasdaq market site in New York's Times Square after ringing the opening bell on Friday. Musk held a separate event for employees in Texas.
The richer story isn't Musk, though he'll always draw the cameras. The better story is the people our little commies will ignore: the worker who served lunch, the welder who joined before the applause, the engineer who missed birthdays, and the technicians who trusted stock options when cash might have felt safer.
Over 4,000 current and former SpaceX employees are expected to become millionaires. The company's stock-option culture reached beyond executives and engineers to skilled tradesmen and cafeteria workers.
Elon Musk's executive team built the structure, but the wealth didn't stop in the boardroom; SpaceX gave employees a stake in the climb, and when the market finally rang the bell, many of them were standing on the pad, too.
America hears many lectures about fairness from people who have never launched anything larger than a press release. SpaceX offered a cleaner lesson: ownership changes lives; equity turns workers into partners.
Risk, patience, and competence can still beat the tired politics of resentment. A cafeteria worker with shares is a better answer to class warfare than another committee hearing.
SpaceX isn't a perfect company, and the IPO isn't a bedtime story. The company posted $18.67 billion in 2025 sales, with Starlink making around 60% of revenue, but it also recorded a $4.94 billion net loss after absorbing heavy AI costs . Investors are paying a steep price for future growth , reusable rockets, satellite internet, Starship, and Musk's larger bet on space-based AI.
Still, risk is the price of motion. SpaceX has changed the launch business with reusable Falcon 9 rockets, built the world's largest satellite internet network, and kept pushing toward Starship while older institutions moved at the speed of paperwork.
The company now launches more than twice a week and serves NASA, the Pentagon, businesses, and homes around the world.
The first lesson of the IPO isn't that every company should be valued like SpaceX. Most shouldn't, but the lesson is that wealth creation still works when vision meets discipline and workers get a seat at the table.
Washington can spend trillions and leave families poorer, angrier, and more dependent. SpaceX created a trillion-dollar event and sent thousands of workers home with life-changing stakes.
A country that still rewards builders hasn't lost its way. A company that makes cafeteria workers millionaires has done more than reach Wall Street. It has reminded America that dignity isn't handed down by bureaucrats.
Sometimes, just sometimes, it comes in the form of a stock grant, earned one shift, one launch, and one risk at a time.
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David Manney writes for PJ Media with the outlook of someone who has spent nearly sixty years watching the world with both eyes open. He leans on plain language, lived experience, and a stubborn belief that character still matters, even when no one is paying attention. A former graphic designer, marketing content specialist, marketing professional, journalist, and technical writer, he tries to sort truth from noise and share what he sees without theatrics.
He lives in the Midwest with his wife, who is smarter than he is and far more graceful about it, along with their two dogs, Watson and Mabel. Manney often jokes that he has never faked sarcasm in his life, and most days his columns prove it. Follow him on X here .
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