For Juan Hernandez, becoming a millionaire began with a welding job and a stock grant he wasn’t sure of.
According to CBS News, the former SpaceX welder became a millionaire after the rocket company’s historic stock market debut pushed the value of his shares above $1 million. A valuable lesson in employee ownership, patience and long-term investing.
Before joining SpaceX, Hernandez had never heard of the company. CBS News reported that he first learned about SpaceX through a friend who had been hired as a welder and believed Hernandez would be a good fit for the role.
At the time, Hernandez viewed the position as just another contract job. “I thought in my head, I don’t know what SpaceX is, but let’s go,” Hernandez told CBS News.
When SpaceX hired him in 2015, the company offered him $10,000 worth of stock, according to CBS News. Hernandez admitted he paid little attention to the offer because none of his previous hourly jobs had included company shares.
“It wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t know anything about it then,” Hernandez told CBS News. “I didn’t know it was gonna be this big, at this point.”
Over the next decade, Hernandez worked on critical infrastructure that helped prepare rockets for launch. He built structures used to lift rockets onto launch pads and later rose through the ranks to become a supervisor.
Following SpaceX’s initial public offering, CBS News reported that Hernandez’s roughly 6,500 shares were valued at more than $1 million, making him a millionaire.
Today, Hernandez works for Blue Origin, the space company founded by Jeff Bezos. Yet despite his newfound wealth, he says he has no plans to stop working.
He believes employee ownership helps workers feel invested in the success of the companies they help build. “They will perform a lot better because, I mean, it is, it’s their company as well,” he told CBS News.
The experience has also changed how he approaches financial education at home. According to CBS News, Hernandez is teaching his three children about investing, and his 16-year-old daughter already owns shares in companies including Meta.
“She’s a little entrepreneur herself,” Hernandez said.
Despite becoming a millionaire, Hernandez remains grounded. As an immigrant to the United States, he said he was raised to value hard work and intends to continue working while sharing those lessons with his children.
If given the opportunity to speak with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Hernandez said he would thank him for helping ordinary workers build wealth.
“He made it a possibility for somebody like us, you know, the cook or electrician,” Hernandez told CBS News. “He’s making all these lives much better and meaningful for their families as well.”
For workers across Africa and beyond, Hernandez’s story carries a simple lesson: earning an income matters, but owning assets can change everything.
