▲ SpaceX
As SpaceX prepares for its public listing tomorrow (June 12), employees who have suddenly come into significant wealth are scrambling to learn how to manage their assets like the wealthy.
Many are consulting with wealth management experts to determine when and how much of their allocated stock they should sell.
The same applies to employees at other major companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, which are also expected to go public on the U.S. stock market in the near future.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on June 9 (local time) that employees at companies like SpaceX are struggling with how to manage life-changing amounts of money they are set to receive.
One former employee, identified as "A," who holds approximately $21.4 million (about 32.6 billion KRW) worth of SpaceX stock based on the offering price, recently consulted with Eric Franklin, a wealth manager specializing in IT company employees, regarding this issue.
Although Franklin advised "A" to sell a portion of the shares after the listing, the employee expressed hesitation about selling too early.
"They still think it's a special company," Franklin said of his client.
Tara Shulman, a wealth manager at Compound Planning, advises her clients to establish a diversification plan and stick to it strictly.
"Employees who receive stock need to avoid getting swept up in the emotional turmoil that inevitably follows a company's initial public offering (IPO)," she said. "Trying to time the market perfectly can be a headache, but there is certainly a right time for you."
Diogo Monica, a venture capital investor and co-founder of the crypto bank Anchorage Digital, follows a set principle for selling shares when a company he has invested in goes public.
His strategy is to sell 20% of his stake at the time of the IPO and an additional 60% over time.
He holds onto the remaining 20% as a sign of confidence in the company.
Employees at SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI receive stock compensation in various forms, including non-qualified stock options, incentive stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs).
Because each type of stock compensation is taxed differently, a wrong decision could lead to an unexpectedly high tax bill.
Selling too many shares in a single year or exercising too many non-qualified stock options can push an individual into a higher tax bracket.
Since incentive stock options can also lead to significant tax liabilities if not handled carefully, experts generally recommend exercising them over several years.
"Some people even take out loans to pay their taxes, but even if the stock price drops after the IPO, the taxes still have to be paid," said Giovanni Tiso, a certified financial planner at Titan.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.