Musk Pledges One SpaceX Share to Every U.S. Child in 2027, Worth About $10.5 Billion at Friday's Close

Elon Musk says he will give one SpaceX share to every kid in America next year.

"Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America," Musk wrote Monday, Oct. 19, on X. "This will be the first of many."

He gave no details on eligibility, timing or mechanics. He did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The math

SpaceX closed at $146.03 on Friday. The Census Bureau counted about 72 million Americans under 18 as of July 1, 2025, and other tallies put the number closer to 73 million. That puts the pledge at roughly $10.5 billion to $10.7 billion, depending on the headcount.

SpaceX shares were up 2.7% to $149.49 in Monday morning trading, according to CBS News.

Musk owns about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares, per an August SEC filing, a figure that rises to 6.4 billion counting unvested awards and options. Handing out 72 million shares would trim his share count by about 1.5%. Bloomberg's index puts his net worth near $904 billion.

What prompted it

The pledge came a day after Anthropic said it would commit 5% of its shares to a new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. Anthropic said it could add up to 2% more, at its board's discretion, for every 50% rise in its value above a set baseline.

Musk replied to Anthropic's post on X: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public." Hours later he added, "This is what I will be doing." Anthropic is preparing an IPO that could come as soon as November.

The likely pipe

The Trump Accounts program is the obvious route, though Musk has not said he will use it. The accounts were created under the One Big Beautiful Bill for children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, and carry a $1,000 Treasury seed deposit. Nearly 8 million children already have accounts, and Treasury plans to auto-enroll up to 60 million more.

The IRS proposed rules in late September allowing stock contributions to the accounts. Under the new rules, donors can deliver stock without paying capital-gains taxes, CBS News reported.

The accounts are not universal by design. The seed money is limited to that four-year birth window, and Musk has not said how a 15-year-old would receive a share.

Others have already gone this route. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in July that she and her husband would donate SpaceX stock to Trump Accounts for more than 2 million teens in lower-income areas near their central Texas home. Michael and Susan Dell committed $6.25 billion for children in ZIP codes with a median family income of $150,000 or less.

Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital, founder of Invest America and Trump Accounts, praised Musk's pledge on X. "Incredible Elon! This will be the largest philanthropic gift in history!" he wrote, suggesting the shares could flow through the accounts.

The track record

Musk's earlier philanthropic promises have a mixed history. He gave about $38 million to OpenAI between 2016 and 2020 against a pledge of up to $1 billion, then cut off donations during a fight with cofounders over control. In 2021 he offered $6 billion to the UN World Food Program if it could show a plan to "solve world hunger." The WFP published a plan, and Musk did not donate.

The Musk Foundation has repeatedly fallen short of the minimum annual giving required by law, according to The New York Times. A review by The Economist found most of its spending has gone to entities tied to Musk, with nearly 60% going to The Foundation, a charity run by his money manager, Jared Birchall.

Those are past records, not findings about this pledge. Musk has not responded to the criticism in the material tied to this announcement.

Money and politics

The gift lands as Musk's political spending draws attention. He has given more than $276 million to Republican groups since July, making him the biggest known donor of the 2026 midterms. That includes $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund in September, routed through an affiliated Texas PAC created to support Republican Ken Paxton.

Musk has also said he expects AI and robots to bring an "age of abundance." "My prediction is that there will be effectively universal high income," he told China Media Group last month. "In fact, it's not clear to me that money will even matter in the future."

Public nerves about AI are the backdrop. An AP-NORC poll found 64% of U.S. adults think AI is developing too fast, and an NBC News survey last month found 70% more worried than excited.

What comes next

SpaceX reports quarterly earnings Tuesday, Oct. 20, and the company has not yet said whether it will address the pledge. CNBC said it reached out to SpaceX and Musk's family office for details.

Who counts as a "kid," whether non-citizens are included, and whether the shares come from Musk's holdings or newly issued stock are all unanswered. So is whether the gift runs through Trump Accounts. Musk's own timeline is 2027.