Musk pledges a SpaceX share to every U.S. child in 2027, but hasn't said how
The promise, made in a post on X, would be worth about $10.5 billion at Friday's close. The rules are missing: who qualifies, when and through what channel.
Foto: Official SpaceX Photos / Wikimedia Commons (CC0) — lançamento de Starlink em maio de 2019
Elon Musk pledged on Monday, October 19, to give one SpaceX share to every child in the United States next year. The announcement came in an early-morning post on X: “Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many.” For now it is only a promise: Musk did not say who will qualify, when the shares would be handed out or how they would reach families.
What it is worth
SpaceX has traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX since June. The stock closed at $146.03 on Friday, October 16. The U.S. has between 72 and 73 million people under 18, depending on the estimate used by the Associated Press and Investing.com, which puts the pledge at roughly $10.5 billion to $10.7 billion. According to Investing.com, that is about 1.5% of the roughly 4.8 billion SpaceX shares attributed to Musk. For each child, the gift would be a single share, worth whatever the market pays for it on the day.
How we got here
The post came a day after AI company Anthropic said it would set aside 5% of its shares for a new public benefit fund. Musk replied that he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public” and that this is what he will be doing.
There are also the so-called Trump Accounts, created by the 2025 budget law: investment accounts in a child's name, with a $1,000 federal seed deposit for kids born from 2025 to 2028, which accept stock donations from third parties. Michael Dell pledged $6.25 billion to them, and SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell more than $320 million in company stock. Whether Musk's gift will go through these accounts has not been disclosed.
What families should know
There is nothing to sign up for yet. It is also unclear whether children of immigrants or of foreign residents would be included. Be wary of websites or messages offering to “claim your SpaceX share”: no official registration exists so far, and any rules should come from SpaceX itself or the federal government.
SpaceX reports its quarterly results on Tuesday, October 20. According to the AP, the stock is about 35% below the peak it reached shortly after its market debut.
