Elon Musk promises to give SpaceX shares to every American child

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has announced plans to distribute one share of his aerospace and artificial intelligence company, SpaceX, to every child in the United States starting next year.

The announcement, made on Monday morning on social media platform X, revealed that the distribution will be outsourced from the personal equity holdings of Musk instead of newly issued corporate stock.

The world’s richest man, at the time this report was published, did not provide full details about the specific execution time in 2027, the criteria for determining eligibility, or the exact administrative channels required to complete stock transfers to millions of minors.

The giveaway followed statements made by Musk criticizing artificial intelligence firm Anthropic over its plan to commit five percent of its shares to a newly formed public benefit fund.

Anthropic announced on Sunday that its wholly owned public benefit fund would execute large donations to non-profit entities or make distributions to targeted populations.

Musk challenged the corporate structure of the Anthropic initiative approximately 12 hours before making his own SpaceX pledge.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband pledged one share of the aerospace company to the government-backed accounts for over two million American children.

The Treasury Department explained subsequently that the program to permit individual corporate equity donations, provided parents and guardians retain the donated shares for a mandatory five-year holding period.

It  still remains unconfirmed whether Musk’s personal stock distribution will operate through the federal government’s investment account structure.

Data from the United States Census Bureau indicates that approximately 21.1 percent of the country’s 341.8 million residents are under the age of 18, representing nearly 72.1 million individuals.

Based on SpaceX’s premarket trading price of $147.52 per share on Monday, a full distribution to 72 million children would represent a total valuation of approximately $10.5 billion.

Official reports from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in August revealed that Musk holds 6.42 billion SpaceX shares through direct ownership, trusts, restricted stock, and exercisable options.

A total transfer of 72 million shares would account for slightly more than one percent of Musk’s total reported holdings in the aerospace entity.