Musk says he will give SpaceX shares to U.S. children next year

Musk’s post and Trump’s response

Yahoo Finance reports that Elon Musk said in a social media post that he would give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, adding that it would be the first of several such gifts. The article says Musk did not give a schedule or explain how the transfer would work, and he did not say directly that he would use Trump Accounts, also called 530A accounts.

President Donald Trump responded by praising the statement on social media. According to the article, Trump wrote, “This is exactly what was envisioned when we created TRUMP ACCOUNTS,” and said the donation would help children have a piece of the American Dream.

Size of the proposed donation

Yahoo Finance says Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this month that about 70 million Trump Accounts have been created. The article notes that some of those accounts may have been opened automatically rather than by parents or guardians.

The report says there are about 72 million people under 18 in the United States. On that basis, giving one SpaceX share to each child would mean 72 million shares. Yahoo Finance says that amount would be worth about $10.6 billion as of Tuesday. The article also says that total would be larger than the $6.25 billion that Michael Dell and his wife donated to support Trump Accounts for children.

Musk’s ownership and possible timing

The article says some people asked why Musk was not making the donation immediately. In response, Yahoo Finance says a social media post from Musk suggests he is waiting until all of his SpaceX shares can be traded. The report says he is currently subject to a 366-day lockup on part of his holdings, which would keep those shares from being tradable until June 2027.

Yahoo Finance says Musk owns about 48% of SpaceX and controls about 85% of the voting power.

What it would mean for Musk’s wealth

According to Bloomberg, the article says Musk would still be worth $908.4 billion even after a $10.6 billion transfer, assuming his net worth did not change before next June. Yahoo Finance says the pledged donation is not official anywhere and would amount to about 1.2% of his current wealth.

The report says Musk would still be about 2.44 times richer than Jeff Bezos, whom it identifies as the second-richest billionaire. The article says Bezos, the Amazon founder, is worth $372 billion.

Questions raised by the post

Yahoo Finance says the announcement may have surprised some people because Musk has not been known for large-scale philanthropy and had previously discouraged people from donating to the Trump Accounts effort. The article quotes Musk as saying in response to a Ray Dalio post, “there will be no poverty in the future and so no need to save money. There will be universal high income.”

The report says Musk has long argued that AI and robotics will eventually reduce the need for people to work. It adds that his post could mean he has changed his view on Trump Accounts, or that he expects Tesla and SpaceX to become more valuable over the next year.

Other compensation mentioned by the report

Yahoo Finance also says Musk could receive more wealth from future compensation plans. The article states he could earn roughly $1 trillion from a Tesla pay package if all future milestones are achieved. It also says his compensation agreement with SpaceX could provide an additional billion shares if milestones are met.