One of the most inspiring stories to emerge from the historic SpaceX IPO isn’t about billionaires or venture capitalists — it’s about a welder who immigrated from Mexico and believed in a company few people understood at the time.

Juan Hernandez joined SpaceX full-time in 2015, earning approximately $28 an hour as a welder. Like many employees, he received company stock as part of his compensation package, initially worth about $10,000. Over the next decade, Hernandez continued purchasing additional shares through payroll deductions while helping build rockets at one of the world’s most ambitious aerospace companies.

That decision has now changed his life.

Following SpaceX’s highly anticipated public debut, the company’s stock surged, pushing Hernandez’s holdings beyond the $1 million mark. His story quickly went viral after Elon Musk shared it online, highlighting the impact of employee ownership programs.

Hernandez is far from alone. Reports suggest more than 4,000 current and former SpaceX employees have now become millionaires thanks to the IPO. Another 400 employees are believed to hold stock packages worth more than $100 million.

The success of SpaceX’s employee equity model demonstrates how long-term ownership can create extraordinary opportunities for workers at every level of a company. While much of the attention surrounding the IPO focused on Elon Musk and major investors, stories like Hernandez’s serve as a reminder that some of the biggest winners were the people helping build the company every day.

As SpaceX’s market value surged past $2 trillion, thousands of engineers, technicians, welders, and support staff found themselves sharing in the rewards of one of the most successful corporate stories of the modern era.