Elon Musk to Give SpaceX Share to Every US Child
Elon Musk will give one SpaceX share to every US child next year - a pledge worth about $10.5 billion at Friday's closing price. Here is what we know.
Elon Musk says he will give one SpaceX share to every child in America next year. He announced the plan in a post on X early Monday, calling it "the first of many." At Friday's closing price, the pledge would be worth about $10.5 billion - one of the largest individual stock giveaways ever announced.
The math behind $10.5 billion
The estimate comes from two public numbers. About 72 million Americans are under 18, according to Census Bureau population estimates. SpaceX closed Friday at $146.03 a share. Multiply one share by 72 million children and the total comes to a little over $10.5 billion, as reported by CNBC and Axios. To put it in perspective, the giveaway would use only about 1.5 percent of Musk's own holding. An August SEC filing showed he owns about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares directly, rising to 6.4 billion when unvested awards and stock options are included - a 48.4 percent beneficial stake. Because the shares would come from his personal holding rather than new issuance, existing SpaceX investors would not be diluted.
Why he made the announcement now
Musk's post appeared to be a response to Anthropic's plan to commit at least 5 percent of its shares to a new public benefit fund, announced the day before. On Sunday, Musk replied to Anthropic's announcement: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public," adding that this is what he would be doing. The pledge also lands alongside a separate SpaceX-related push to put stock in children's hands. SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell has pledged more than $320 million of her personal SpaceX holdings to fund Trump Accounts for more than 2 million children, accounts created to encourage long-term savings for children born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028. Separately, Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to fund such accounts for 25 million children under 10. Musk's figure would be close to double that record.
What we still do not know
Musk gave no details on how the shares would be distributed. Open questions include who exactly counts as eligible, how the transfers would be administered, how children would hold and manage the stock, and when recipients would be notified. SpaceX shares traded about 1 percent higher in premarket trading Monday morning, and CNBC said it had reached out to SpaceX for comment.