Musk says he will give SpaceX shares to children in the U.S.

Musk’s pledge

Deseret News reports that Elon Musk, described as the world’s richest person, said he will give every child in America a share of SpaceX, his aerospace and artificial intelligence company. He made the announcement on X and said the gift would begin next year. Musk wrote, “Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.” He added, “This will be the first of many.”

Value and size of the pledge

The article says SpaceX stock closed Friday at $146. Using the estimate of about 72 million children in the United States, Deseret News reports that the shares would total about $10.5 billion. It says SpaceX had a market value of more than $2 trillion. The article also says Musk’s net worth is about $904 billion, and that the proposed $10.5 billion pledge would equal 1.2% of that amount.

Unanswered questions about the plan

Deseret News says Musk has not given more details about how the plan would be carried out, when it would start exactly, or what age range he means by “child.” The article also notes that children cannot directly hold stock, so the plan would appear to require Trump Accounts. According to the article, those accounts provide every child born from 2025 to 2028 with a federally funded $1,000 investment account.

Earlier stock gifts and policy changes

The article says SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell announced in July that she and her husband would participate in the Invest America program and give one share of SpaceX stock to a Trump Account for each of more than two million children. Deseret News says that gift was aimed specifically at children from low-income households. By September, the IRS had issued new rules expanding Trump Accounts to accept donated individual stocks.

Anthropic and the AI backdrop

Deseret News reports that Musk’s announcement followed Anthropic’s Sunday commitment to place at least 5% of its shares into a new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. Anthropic said 5% of its shares would be committed immediately, with another 2% possible at the board’s discretion for every 50% increase in company value above a set baseline. The article says those shares would support three purposes: donations to nonprofits, direct distributions to specific groups, and programs dealing with AI’s effect on jobs. It notes that Anthropic is privately held, while SpaceX is public and trades openly. Musk responded to Anthropic by saying, “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public.” The article says he then posted his SpaceX pledge within 24 hours. It adds that the moves come amid record-high skepticism about AI, citing a Gallup report that says 39% of Americans think AI does more harm than good, up from 31% in 2025.