SpaceX millionaires 4,000 x $1mil , 400 x $100 mil Every employee who joined before the first succesful launch made (unless they sold early) more than $100 million. SpaceX lists June 12 at ~$1.75T. Work backward from the cap table. At $1.75T, clearing $100M takes ~0.0057% of the company. - 2002–2008, first ~500 in: joined at a ~$50M company. Held to $1.75T = a 17,000x. The core of the club — maybe 150–250 left holding - September 2008, SpaceX has first successful launch - 2010–2016: joined at $1B–$10B. Needs a senior grant — directors, principal engineers, early Starlink. ~100–200 - C-suite + board: Shotwell, Johnsen past $1B. A layer of SVPs below them clears $100M on equity, not salary. ~20–40 - Post-2016: joined at $20B–$350B. To hit $100M you'd have needed ~0.4% of the company. Impossible for an employee. This is the millionaire tier — almost none reach $100M The tally: ~400–500 at $100M+ A few dozen above $500M A handful of billionaires past Musk Same building. Same mission. Two orders of magnitude apart — set entirely by what year you walked in. Early isn't a strategy. It's a date stamp.