SpaceX cafeteria workers poised to become millionaires after blockbuster IPO — 4,400 total employees set to hit 7-figures. Claim your own stake now?

And these aren’t all C-suite insiders.

The Times reported that some of the workers who could see life-changing wealth include hourly blue-collar employees who worked at launch sites. Bloomberg’s Jessica Karl put an even more striking image on it, writing that the SpaceX cafeteria is about to be full of millionaires.

“I guess it’s too late for me to pivot careers to become a food service specialist in Brownsville, Texas,” Karl joked, referencing an online post that says “SpaceX’s IPO is expected to create 4,000 new millionaires, including some cafeteria workers whose compensation packages include employee stock options.”

That may sound unbelievable. But it also reveals one of the most powerful wealth-building lessons in America: Owning the right asset can change your life.

One example the New York Times article provided is Trevor Hise, who joined SpaceX after college, despite his parents wanting him to take what they viewed as a more stable job at General Electric.

Hise spent 12 years at SpaceX and accumulated more than 100,000 shares through his work as a launch engineer. At the expected IPO price of $135 a share, that stake would be worth at least $13.5 million.

“The magnitude of this has been ridiculous,” Hise said.

Now 37, Hise considers himself semiretired.

Of course, most Americans will never work at SpaceX. And most companies will never produce a $1.77 trillion IPO.

But the basic lesson is not about rockets, satellites or Musk.

It is about ownership.

A paycheck can cover bills. A raise can improve your lifestyle. A bonus can help with a major purchase. But ownership is what gives people a claim on the upside.

SpaceX employees got their ownership stake through stock-based compensation. But ordinary Americans do not need to work for the next SpaceX to apply the same principle.

‘The best thing to do,’ according to Warren Buffett

Long-term exposure to the growth of American businesses through the stock market has created enormous wealth over time — and you don’t need to be a founder, a venture capitalist or an early employee at a once-in-a-generation company to participate.

As investing legend Warren Buffett wrote in 2017, “American business — and consequently a basket of stocks – is virtually certain to be worth far more in the years ahead.”

That is the same basic principle behind the SpaceX windfall: When the value of a business grows, owners benefit.

And for most people, Buffett has long argued that the easiest way to get that exposure is not by trying to find the next SpaceX before everyone else does. It is by owning a broad slice of American business.

“In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is own the S&P 500 index fund,” Buffett has famously stated. This approach gives investors exposure to 500 of America’s largest companies across a wide range of industries, providing instant diversification without the need for constant monitoring or active trading.

The beauty of this approach is its accessibility — anyone, regardless of wealth, can take advantage of it. Even small amounts can grow over time with tools like Acorns, a popular app that automatically invests your spare change.

Signing up for Acorns takes just minutes: Link your cards and Acorns will round up each purchase to the nearest dollar, investing the difference — your spare change — into a diversified portfolio.

With Acorns, you can invest in an S&P 500 ETF with as little as $5 — and, if you sign up today with a recurring investment, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey.

For investors interested in individual stocks, research tools like Moby can come in handy. Their team of former hedge fund analysts does the heavy lifting — breaking down the market, flagging quality stocks and making the research easy to digest.

In fact, across nearly 400 stock picks over the past four years, Moby’s recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and takes the guesswork out of choosing investments.

Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

Own a piece of real estate

Stocks are not the only way to build wealth through ownership.

Real estate has long been one of the most popular assets for Americans looking to grow their net worth. When you own property, you are not just earning a paycheck and hoping it stretches far enough. You own an asset that can produce rental income, offer appreciation potential and act as a hedge against inflation.

That’s because when the cost of materials, labor and land goes up, property values often rise as well. Meanwhile, rental income typically climbs too, creating a revenue stream that adjusts with inflation.

In fact, Buffett has often pointed to real estate as a prime example of a productive, income-generating asset.