Elon Musk Pledges One SpaceX Share for Every U.S. Child

Elon Musk said Monday he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in the United States next year, a pledge with an estimated price tag of roughly $10.5 billion and almost no operational detail.

“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.”
“This will be the first of many.” Musk wrote on X at 3:57 a.m. Eastern Time.

Image Credit: DogeDesigner on X @cb_doge

The 18-word post did not say how the shares would be transferred, how a child’s eligibility would be verified, or what happens to Americans who turn 18 before the distribution. It also did not define “kid,” like the age, gender, etc and SpaceX did not publish a separate statement either.

The post also leaves an open question about which stock he would hand over as SpaceX’s filing gives public Class A shares one vote each and insider Class B shares ten. Musk did not say which class would go to the children.

Musk owns about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares, according to an August SEC filing. That figure rises to 6.4 billion including unvested awards and options, a 48.4% beneficial stake. Forbes puts his ownership at 38%.

The company listed on Nasdaq in June after raising $85.7 billion in the largest IPO on record, and the stock closed Friday at $146.03.

There were 72 million children under 18 in the U.S. as of July 1, 2025, census data show. At Friday’s close, one share for each would cost about $10.5 billion. A separate estimate of 73.1 million minors for this year puts the figure near $10.7 billion.

Elon Musk’s personal fortune is estimated at $1.1 trillion, so the gift works out to roughly 1% of his wealth.

The world's first trillionaire posted this after Anthropic said it would set aside 5% of its shares for a public benefit fund. It also followed President Donald Trump’s promise last month to give every American adult $5,000 if Republicans keep Congress in November’s midterms.

But minors generally cannot hold stock directly in the U.S. The shares would likely need to sit in custodial accounts managed by parents or in a trust. Musk has not said whether children born during 2027 would qualify, or whether the transfer would be structured to avoid a tax bill for families. He has previously said he opposes automatic inheritance of company shares by children, arguing control should go to people capable of running the business.

The announcement follows months of pressure from the White House. In a July CNBC interview, President Donald Trump said he expected Musk to put SpaceX stock into Trump Accounts, the federal child investment program:

“Well, I think that he will do that,” Trump said.

Musk had not publicly committed to anything by the following week, and those accounts receive a $1,000 Treasury deposit for each child born from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2028. Musk’s post does not say whether his shares would go through those accounts or not.

One X user calculated the pledge would distribute about 0.5% of SpaceX’s shares and Axios reported the gift would be nearly double Michael Dell’s record-setting Trump accounts contribution.

We don't know whether a child must be a U.S. citizen, a resident, or simply present in the country and we need to wait for more on this from SpaceX or Elon Musk.