Elon Musk says he will give every American child a SpaceX share in 2027. Few details have emerged.
Elon Musk said Monday that he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, calling the move “the first of many.” Musk announced the pledge in a post on X shortly before 4 a.m. Eastern time. He did not say how the shares would be distributed, which children would qualify or whether the offer would cover non-citizens living in the United States.
The pledge followed an exchange with artificial intelligence company Anthropic. On Sunday, Anthropic said it was committing 5% of its shares to a new, wholly owned entity called the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. The company said it could add up to 2% more for every 50% increase in its value above a set baseline, at its board’s discretion, bringing the total committed to roughly 20%. Anthropic also said its co-founders have pledged to donate 80% of their equity. Musk replied that he recommended giving shares directly to the public and said that was what he would do.
News outlets calculated the potential value using Census Bureau data showing about 72 million people in the United States under 18. At SpaceX’s Friday closing price of $146.03, one share for each would be worth roughly $10.5 billion. The figure is an estimate, not one provided by Musk. Musk owns about 48% of SpaceX, which went public in June in what was described as the largest initial public offering to date.
The announcement follows other share gifts tied to children’s savings. In July, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said she and her husband would donate SpaceX shares to Trump Accounts for more than 2 million children. The federal program provides a $1,000 Treasury deposit to eligible children born between 2025 and 2028. Musk’s post did not say whether his shares would be channeled through that program.
The pledge comes as SpaceX prepares to report third-quarter results Tuesday, with Tesla due to report Wednesday. Reuters reported that investors are watching the companies’ artificial intelligence spending amid growing speculation about a possible merger. SpaceX absorbed Musk’s AI company xAI in February. As of Monday, neither Musk nor SpaceX had publicly detailed how the share pledge would work.
Aurax News compiled this report from information provided by Fox Business, CNN, Reuters and Axios.