Cashing in on SpaceX: 'Every chance I get, I'll sell a little more'

Andre Lavoie, a 63-year-old SpaceX engineer who joined the company in 2009, is ready to start selling his 200,000 shares that are now worth about $23m (£17m). Lavoie says he'll sell a little more "every chance I get" as the shares have been increasing in value so rapidly. He plans to use the money to renovate a hotel in Italy and start a small brewery.

Lavoie is not alone in reaping the benefits of SpaceX's stock listing. According to reports, SpaceX's June listing on the Nasdaq created several thousand millionaires, including employees who worked on the production line. SpaceX listed on the Nasdaq in June, in the largest IPO in history, valuing the company at over $2 trillion.

In its first results as a public company, SpaceX saw its quarterly revenue nearly double to $7.8bn (£5.8bn) while spending increased to $18.3bn, more than six times its previous level. Despite making a net loss of $143m in the three months to June and $2bn over the first six months of the year, SpaceX's founder Elon Musk remains bullish on the company's future.

He believes its Starlink satellite internet service could one day provide internet to a majority of the world's population.