equity grants – A SpaceX software engineer’s $365,000 equity grant, offered in August 2022, is estimated to be worth more than $4 million at the company’s IPO valuation. New analysis from Levels.fyi shows similar outcomes across frontier tech—where vesting, dilution, lockups
A SpaceX job offer in August 2022 carried a promise that doesn’t look life-changing on paper—until the math catches up. Alongside a $155,000 salary for a Software Engineer II role, the offer included a $365,000 equity grant that would vest over five years.
At SpaceX’s IPO valuation, Levels.fyi estimates that same grant could be worth more than $4 million, assuming it was held.
That kind of payoff is part of what Levels.fyi’s analysis is trying to make visible: how equity grants at frontier tech companies can turn into sums that reshape a worker’s future. The figures don’t just show upside; they also show how quickly a compensation package can change once valuations surge.
At Anthropic, the analysis points to engineers who joined in 2023. With the AI company’s valuation surge, those employees “may now be sitting on equity worth tens of millions of dollars.”
OpenAI shows a similar arc. Some 2022 and 2023 equity grants to engineers are now valued at over $50 million, based on the analysis.
There is a catch, and it matters. These estimates are not guaranteed windfalls. Vesting schedules, dilution, and lockups can all reduce what employees ultimately receive. And even when the equity value looks extraordinary, huge tax bills can further shrink the take-home outcome.
Still, for workers staring at grant documents that look technical and distant, the estimates offer a glimpse of what Silicon Valley has built—and how that wealth can spread among employees when a company’s value rises fast.
Silicon Valley equity grants employee stock vesting dilution lockups taxes SpaceX IPO Anthropic OpenAI Levels.fyi technology compensation
So they just get rich from vibes basically? math math
I don’t get it… like “worth more than $4 million at IPO valuation” but it says assuming it was held. So did they sell immediately or not? Sounds like a trap. Also the article keeps saying “tens of millions” like everyone’s gonna see that money, but taxes?? nah
Is this just saying engineers at SpaceX basically strike gold if the IPO goes crazy? Because my cousin works “tech” too and he said equity is worthless half the time. And what about dilution/lockups… like can you even access it before it’s all locked up? Sounds like they’re counting money on paper.
Equity math turning into millionaires in years… ok cool but meanwhile teachers are just getting underpaid and then they act like this is “how wealth spreads.” Also I feel like OpenAI and Anthropic numbers are being spun, “over $50 million” for some grants?? Most people don’t even know what a vesting schedule is. Taxes will probably eat it up, then they’ll still be like “you could’ve been rich” lol