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Musk Pledges SpaceX Shares to Every Kid in America
· Confirmed
In Short: Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, announced a significant pledge to benefit American children by offering one share of SpaceX stock to every child in the United States, according to multiple outlets including 1150 WIMA and TweakTown.
The announcement was made on X, Musk's social media platform, and is expected to impact roughly 72 million individuals under the age of 18.
Musk described this initiative as “the first of many,” aligning with similar philanthropic efforts by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who recently donated $320 million worth of SpaceX stock to investment accounts for children, focusing on lower-income families in Texas.
According to CBS News, Musk is SpaceX's largest shareholder with a 10.5% stake, which included 4.8 billion shares of SpaceX when the company went public earlier this year.
The value of Musk's donation could be worth over $10 billion, depending on SpaceX's future performance. SpaceX's current valuation and the company's projected revenue of $1 trillion by 2031 contribute to the potential worth of the shares.
Musk's pledge was made a day after artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced it would commit 5% of its shares to a new “public benefit” fund.
The details of how the stock distribution will occur next year remain unclear, but Musk wrote in a separate post that he wants to give the shares “directly to the public.”
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds that most Americans, 64%, think AI is developing “too fast,” while 27% say its development has been “about right” and only 8% say it’s moving “too slow.”
The fund’s worth will potentially increase as the shares grow in value.
The announcement has garnered attention from various media outlets, with some reporting the exact number of shares and others focusing on the potential impact of the donation.
The initiative aims to provide a direct stake in the aerospace and artificial intelligence company to approximately 73 million Americans under the age of 18.
While the exact logistics of the distribution remain unclear, Musk's pledge represents a significant philanthropic effort by SpaceX.
The value of the shares will depend on SpaceX's future performance, and the company's current valuation and projected revenue contribute to the potential worth of the donation.
What's confirmed
- Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, announced a significant pledge to benefit American children by offering one share of SpaceX stock to every child in the United States.
- The offer arrived a day after artificial intelligence company Anthropic announced in a social media post that it will commit 5% of its shares to a new "public benefit" fund.
- Shares of SpaceX, which will report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, closed at $146.03 on Friday.
- "Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many," he wrote in a Monday post on X.
- FILE - Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the U.S.
- Elon Musk has announced that he plans to give one of his own SpaceX shares to every child in America next year.
- Anthropic said Sunday that the shares it is committing will go to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity within the company.
- Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday pledged to give one share of his company SpaceX to “every kid in America” next year.
What's still developing
- Musk has expressed optimism about SpaceX's growth, expecting revenue to reach $1 trillion by 2031.
- Musk, the world's richest person, is currently worth about $904 billion.
- There are about 73 million children in the U.S., according to Census Bureau data.
- "Our co-founders have already pledged to donate 80% of their equity, and around half our employees are donating a portion of their equity as part of a donation matching program we’ve run since our founding," the company added.
- The US Census Bureau estimate put the US at around 72.02 million residents under the age of 18 as of July 1, 2025, and Anadolu Ajansı said SpaceX’s closing share price of $146.03 on Friday would make the giveaway worth about $10.52 billion.
- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 21.1% of the U.S.’s approximately 341.8 million residents are under the age of 18 as of July 2025, around 72.1 million total.
- Forbes reported that he didn’t say how, when or who exactly will get the individual shares.
- Musk Pledges SpaceX Share to Every US Child in 2027 SpaceX CEO announces unprecedented equity giveaway plan affecting 73M American children PUBLISHED: Mon, Oct 19, 2026, 12:37 PM UTC | UPDATED: Mon, Oct 19, 2026, 12:37 PM UTC Photo: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket standing vertical on launch pad with gantry support structures, blue sky and palm trees in background.
- Anthropic said it would commit roughly 20% of its shares to public-good initiatives, with co-founders pledging to donate 80% of their personal equity.