What just happened? Elon Musk makes a lot of big promises, not all of which come true, but it’s hard to imagine how he won’t keep this promise. The world’s richest person says he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, adding that “this will be the first of many.”
Musk explained the plan on his X platform. He didn’t elaborate, so we don’t know the details, e.g. B. about which age groups qualify for a free share, how he wants to distribute them and when exactly the raffle will take place in 2027.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
It is estimated that Musk would be obliged to give a share to approximately 72 million people under the age of 18. SpaceX’s share price is currently $146, which would equate to a share value of approximately $10.5 billion.
Musk certainly has a lot of SpaceX shares to hand out. The company’s SEC filing in August showed he owned 6.42 billion shares as of June 30, including shares of trusts for which he serves as trustee, restricted shares and shares that could be issued upon the exercise of options.
Musk’s announcement comes shortly after xAI’s rival Anthropic said it would donate 5% of its shares to a fund that will make donations for the “public good.” The company later said the fund could also receive an additional 2% of the company’s shares at the board’s discretion. Anthropic’s IPO could push the company’s value to more than $1 trillion
Musk responded to the Anthropic announcement by saying, “I recommend offering the shares directly to the public. That’s what I will do.”
The moves also reflect the thinking behind Trump Accounts, the tax-advantaged investment accounts for children that provide a $1,000 federally funded head start to eligible U.S. citizens born between 2025 and 2028. Families, employers and other donors can add money to be invested in funds that track U.S. stocks to help children build wealth as they grow up.
There is already a SpaceX connection to the program. The company’s chief executive, Gwynne Shotwell, has pledged more than $320 million of her own SpaceX stock to fund Trump accounts for over two million children.
