Elon Musk said early Monday that he will give one of his own SpaceX shares to every child in the United States next year. “This will be the first of many,” the world’s richest person wrote, suggesting the gift would not be a one-off.
Musk did not say who would qualify, how the shares would be distributed, how the plan would be funded or when it would begin. It is also unclear whether the shares would go into Trump Accounts, the government-backed savings accounts for children that other SpaceX shareholders have already used for similar gifts.
A roughly $10.5 billion gift
There were about 72 million children under 18 in the United States as of July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau data. At SpaceX’s Friday closing price of $146.03, one share for each of them would be worth about $10.5 billion, according to a CNBC estimate.
Musk owned about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares according to an August filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a figure that rises to about 6.4 billion including unvested awards and stock options, just under half the company.
SpaceX shares, which trade under the ticker SPCX, rose 1.53% to $148.27 in premarket trading on Monday after the announcement. The stock fell 1.74% on Friday and was down more than 10% for the month. The company reports third-quarter results after the market close on Tuesday.
Shotwell went first
The pledge follows a smaller gift by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who said in July that she and her husband would “gift a share of our SpaceX stock to a Trump Account for each of more than two million children across our great nation,” focusing on children aged 11 to 17 in lower-income areas. President Donald Trump valued that gift at $325 million and praised her “extreme generosity.”
Trump had also said he expected Musk to donate SpaceX stock to the program, though neither had confirmed it until now.
What are Trump Accounts?
Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged savings accounts meant to help families build wealth for children. More than 6 million accounts have been opened for children under 18, and about 1.4 million newborns have received a $1,000 federal contribution. Michael Dell and his wife Susan have pledged $6.25 billion to the accounts.
How much a single SpaceX share will be worth when today’s children reach adulthood depends on the company’s growth and on market sentiment. Some analysts consider SpaceX, which has traded between an all-time low of $145.20 and a high of $225.60 since its listing, to be overvalued.
