BBC News
· collected 2026-08-06 · by Nathalie Jimenez, Samira Hussain
Andre Lavoie, a 63-year-old engineer who joined SpaceX in 2009 and was given 200,000 shares as part of his hiring package, is selling some of his stake in the company now that it has listed on the stock market. His shares are worth around $23 million, with Lavoie planning to use the money to fund a hotel renovation and a small brewery. The listing of SpaceX on the Nasdaq in June created an estimated 4,400 new millionaires among employees, with some choosing to hold onto their shares in the hope of bigger gains later. SpaceX's quarterly revenue nearly doubled to $7.8 billion, but the company made a net loss of $143 million in the three months to June and spent $18.3 billion.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The article presents a largely neutral view of SpaceX and its founder Elon Musk, but there are subtle hints at a slightly positive bias. The use of phrases such as 'radically' to describe the increase in share value and 'briefly made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire' may be seen as mildly celebratory.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.70 for article 546 · logged 2026-08-11
Andre Lavoie joined SpaceX in 2009 as an engineer, designing the pressure tanks that help power its rocket.
asserted
that → join → rocket
He was paid partly in stock - a common trade-off at start-ups as a hiring incentive.
asserted
He → pay → incentive
Some 17 years on, those 200,000 shares he was given are worth about $23m (£17m) - and the 63-year-old says he's ready to start cashing them as soon as he can.
asserted
he → give → them
"Every chance I get going forward, I'll sell a little bit more," he tells the BBC.
asserted
he → get → BBC
"The shares have been going up so radically it keeps messing up my life plans - you really can't know the future, so it's better to sell early and in intervals.
asserted
it → go → intervals
Lavoie is far from being the only one who has seen the value of his stake in SpaceX rocket over the years.
asserted
who → see → years
The company's founder, Elon Musk, said on Fox News that SpaceX's listing on the stock market in June had likely made "several thousand" employees millionaires - including staff "who were working on the production line".
asserted
who → say → line
Unlike most newly-listed firms, SpaceX shares are set to be released in stages: the first 20% on 6 August, with more due in batches through the rest of the year.
asserted
more → list → year
Whether or not shareholders decide to sell their stake at the first opportunity is a matter for individuals.
asserted
decide → decide → individuals
Unlike Lavoie, some may choose to hold onto their shares altogether in the hope of bigger gains later.
uncertain
some → choose → gains
SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq in June, in the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in history, valuing the rocket and satellite firm at more than $2 trillion.
asserted
SpaceX → list → trillion
It briefly made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire, before the stock cooled and his fortune slipped back below the milestone within weeks.
asserted
fortune → make → weeks
In its first results as a public company this week, the firm's quarterly revenue was shown to have nearly doubled to $7.8bn (£5.8bn) from a year earlier, while its spending ballooned to $18.3bn - more than six times what it was a year ago.
asserted
it → show → 18.3bn
Overall, SpaceX made a net loss of $143m in the three months to June, and a loss of $2bn during the first six months of the year.
asserted
SpaceX → make → year
Musk pushed back against sceptics on an earnings call: "I think people are really underestimating Starlink".
asserted
people → push → Starlink
He predicted the satellite internet service - the one part of the company that is currently making a profit - could one day deliver a majority of the world's internet.
uncertain
that → predict → internet
But shares in the company tumbled on the back of the earnings report, with investors generally spooked by the huge amounts of money being spent on AI.
asserted
investors → tumble → AI
SpaceX shares fell 13.6% on Wednesday to $108.27 (£80.44) - well below the initial listing price of $135 a share.
asserted
shares → fall → 135
Lavoie plans to use his money from selling some of his shares to fund a hotel he is renovating in Pontebba, Italy's northeastern Friuli region, plus a small brewery.
asserted
he → plan → Pontebba
He says his priority for the future is raising awareness of air pollution in the area, in partnership with a local environmental group.
asserted
priority → say → group
Before he was hired, Lavoie was interviewed by Musk himself.
asserted
Lavoie → hire → Musk
"He's a very charming person when he wants something," Lavoie says.
asserted
Lavoie → want → something
He wouldn't be drawn on Musk's politics - "that's his business" - but is unreserved about the company: "I've always been happily supportive and impressed, and would work hard with those incredible people again."
asserted
I → draw → people
Some analysts value SpaceX at less than half its current stock market price, warning its ties to xAI carry real financial risk - part of a broader worry on Wall Street that sky-high valuations for AI-linked firms, including SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, could prove overdone.
uncertain
valuations → value → SpaceX
Sinead O'Sullivan, an economist who has previously worked for Nasa, told the BBC in June she thinks SpaceX is an "Elon Musk ego project".
asserted
SpaceX → work → June
"You're buying a share of the Elon Musk brand more than any kind of space industry," she said.
asserted
she → buy → industry
But Ron Epstein, an aerospace analyst at Bank of America Securities, says the recent share price swings say more about the market than the company.
asserted
swings → say → company
"A lot of it has to do with macro trends," he says.
asserted
he → have → trends
"None of it really has anything to do with what's going on fundamentally at the company."
asserted
what → have → company
He says investors judging SpaceX purely as an AI bet are missing the point: "They're not just a compute provider.
asserted
They → say → point
SpaceX, he adds, has cut the cost of reaching orbit from around $10,000-$20,000 a kilogram to about $2,000 with its Falcon 9 rocket - "they have built a railroad to space."
asserted
they → add → space
Lavoie, for his part, isn't rattled.
asserted
Lavoie → rattle → part
He says: "The solid business model of SpaceX will prove itself to be worth the investment,"even as he takes some of his own winnings off the table.
asserted
he → say → table
