Elon Musk promised early Monday to give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year – teasing that the unprecedented giveaway “will be the first of many.”
“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” the Space X and Tesla tycoon wrote on X – a post that was seen nearly 6 million times in just hours.
“This will be the first of many,”
Musk — the world’s first trillionaire — did not detail how he plans to allocate the shares.
There were 72 million children in the US under 18, according to census data from July, and this would equate to Musk giving away around $10.5 billion worth of shares.
SpaceX’s closing stock price stood at $146.03 when markets closed Friday.
Musk’s promise comes hot on the heels of him criticizing AI safety and research company Anthropic’s plan to set aside 5% of its shares to a new “public benefit” fund.
“I recommend giving the shares directly to the public,” Musk said Sunday, critiquing Anthropic’s plans. “This is what I will be doing.”
Earlier this summer, SpaceX’s President Gwynne Shotwell pledged to donate about $320 million to 2 million children, equating to about one $165 share for each child participating in Trump Accounts, the White House’s tax-advantaged investment accounts for kids.
Musk’s new pledge comes after Trump said on CNBC in July that he expected Musk to donate stock to the program saying, “well I think he will do that,” according to Business Insider. In the same interview, Trump praised Dell CEO Michael Dell for donating $6.25 billion to Trump Accounts.
There are now nearly 70 million US kids enrolled in the program. The White House announced earlier this month that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, IRS CEO Frank Bisignano and philanthropists Michael and Susan Dell, and Brad Gerstner have made “historic contributions” to the tax-free program.
Only children born between January 2025 and the end of 2028 are eligible for the accounts. It’s unclear if Musk will make a donation to this program.
Musk’s charity foundation had about $14 billion in assets at the end of last year, according to the New York Times. The tech giant has become the largest donor for this year’s midterm cycle — contributing about $276 million to Republican candidates.
With Post wires
Credit: Source link
