SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on X on October 19 (U.S. time) that in 2027 he will give one share of his own SpaceX stock to every child in the United States. “Next year, I will give one share of my SpaceX stock to every child in America,” Musk wrote. “This will be the first of many.”
Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
This will be the first of many.
The day before Musk’s post (October 18, U.S. time), Anthropic announced that, subject to stockholder approval, it would contribute 5% of its shares to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a vehicle for public-interest purposes. Musk responded on X, writing, “I recommend distributing the shares directly to the public,” and adding, “This is what I’m going to do.”
According to Anthropic, the fund will operate as a wholly owned limited liability company (LLC) and is considering options such as large donations to traditional nonprofits and direct distributions to specific groups. It also includes a mechanism that lets the board add up to 2% more, at its discretion, for every 50% increase in the company’s valuation above a baseline. The baseline valuation has not been disclosed.
As of October 20, details such as how the shares will be distributed, the age range of eligible children, and any citizenship or residency requirements had not been made public. U.S. President Donald Trump thanked Musk on Truth Social for the gift through “Trump Accounts.” Musk has not said explicitly that he will use the accounts. However, he reportedly posted a message thanking Brad Gerstner, an investor who has championed the accounts, for helping make it happen.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 72,021,348 people under the age of 18 in the United States as of July 1, 2025. By Iolite’s calculations, giving one share to every person under 18 would cost about $10.66 billion based on SpaceX’s October 19 closing price of $147.96. Even at the IPO price of $135, the total would come to roughly $9.72 billion.
According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk beneficially owns 849,494,440 Class A shares and 5,569,053,075 Class B shares, including options and other rights. The number of shares needed for the gift is about 1.1% of that combined total of roughly 6.42 billion shares. It represents about 0.55% of SpaceX’s roughly 13.18 billion shares outstanding as of July 28. Factoring in the roughly 390 million new shares issued upon the completion of the Cursor acquisition on August 14, the figure drops to about 0.53%.
SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell also announced in July 2026 that she and her husband would give one share of SpaceX stock to the Trump Accounts of more than 2 million children. Musk’s plan is about 36 times larger in terms of the number of recipients. Compared with the $6.25 billion pledge Michael and Susan Dell announced in December 2025, it is about 1.7 times larger in dollar terms.
Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged investment accounts for children created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the legislation signed into law on July 4, 2025, is commonly known. They are available to children who are U.S. citizens with a Social Security number. Under interim rules that the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) put into effect on September 30, only certain entities, such as government bodies and 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, may contribute stock to the accounts. Individuals must make contributions through these entities.
The rules require that contributed stock be publicly traded, freely transferable shares issued by a U.S. corporation. Shares received must generally be held for five years, or until the end of the year in which the beneficiary turns 17, if that comes first. Contributions are designated for groups rather than individuals, such as all children under 18 or all children in a particular state or birth year. Groups of 5,000 or more children defined by a combination of region and birth year are also permitted.
In addition, according to SpaceX’s prospectus, Musk’s shares are subject to a lockup that runs for 366 days from the IPO pricing date, until June 12, 2027, with no provision for early release. Bona fide gifts are permitted as an exception, but recipients must sign a lockup agreement covering the remainder of the period.
SpaceX is scheduled to report its results for the July–September quarter of 2026 after the market closes on October 20, U.S. time.
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