SpaceX’s IPO this summer created an estimated 4,400 new millionaires overnight, and Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to soon follow. Goldman Sachs projects a historic year for IPO proceeds, driven by the AI boom. The question is: How much of this enormous wealth will trickle down to the people who need it most?
We’ve watched this moment take shape from different angles — one of us building and scaling technology companies, the other leading a nonprofit that provides career training to help people move into the middle class. From both of these vantage points, we see a country where costs are rising, services are stretched thin, and the American dream is further out of reach.