Musk pledges one SpaceX share to every child in the US next year
In short
Elon Musk said on X that next year he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America, calling it the first of many such gifts. Russian outlets put the number of US minors at about 72 million and the value at about $10.5 billion, and no details of how the shares would be handed out have been given.
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Elon Musk said he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year. Musk wrote about the plan on the social network X, according to Vedomosti, RIA Novosti and Meduza. Vedomosti and vc.ru say the shares are to be given in 2027. Musk said it will be the first of many such gifts, as TASS, Interfax and Meduza report. iXBT described it as the first stage of a series of similar giveaways. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 9 ]
Meduza cites the US Census Bureau as putting the number of children in the country at about 72 million, and Interfax and Kommersant give about 72 million minors as well. Interfax calculated that one share each would be worth about $10.5 billion in total at the current price, and RBC and Kommersant give the same figure. Kommersant used the NASDAQ closing price of $146.03 on Friday, while iXBT put the share price at about $150. Kommersant and Meduza say that neither Musk nor SpaceX has given details of the transfer, and iXBT says the procedure and participation criteria have not been disclosed. [ 1 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]
Interfax says Musk held about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares as of August, with about 1.6 billion more obtainable through options and compensation, which together with his actual holdings corresponds to a beneficial stake of 48.4%. Kommersant says Musk owns 6.4 billion shares, slightly less than half of the company. [ 6 , 8 ]
Interfax and Meduza link the announcement to Anthropic, which said it was putting 5% of its shares into a public-benefit fund. Meduza, citing Bloomberg, says Musk made his announcement a few hours after Anthropic's. Interfax says Musk replied to Anthropic's post on X recommending that shares be given directly to people, as he intends to do. [ 6 , 9 ]
RIA Novosti says SpaceX was merged with Musk's xAI in February and that Musk became a trillionaire in June after the SpaceX IPO, which raised almost $86 billion. Vedomosti cites Forbes as saying on 13 October that Musk's fortune had fallen by about $26.3 billion and that he was no longer a trillionaire. Meduza, citing Bloomberg's index, says his wealth exceeds $900 billion, about $700 billion of it in SpaceX. RIA Novosti and TASS later published headlines saying Trump thanked Musk for the pledge. vc.ru recalls that in July 2025 Trump said Musk could donate shares to children's savings accounts. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]
Why it matters
If carried out, the pledge would make a very large number of American children SpaceX shareholders, according to the outlets' estimates. The documents give no mechanism, timetable or eligibility rules, so the scale of the plan is so far an estimate rather than a fixed programme.
Key facts
- Musk wrote on X that next year he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America and that this will be the first of many such gifts. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 9 ]
- Vedomosti and vc.ru say the shares are to be given in 2027. [ 3 , 5 ]
- Outlets cite about 72 million people under 18 in the US, which Interfax, RBC and Kommersant put at roughly $10.5 billion in shares at current prices. [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]
- Kommersant used the Friday NASDAQ closing price of $146.03 per SpaceX share; iXBT put the price at about $150. [ 1 , 8 ]
- Neither Musk nor SpaceX has given details of the transfer, according to Kommersant and Meduza. [ 8 , 9 ]
- RIA Novosti and TASS headlines on 20 October say US President Donald Trump thanked Musk for the pledge. [ 10 , 11 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Musk promised to give one SpaceX share to every child in America in the following year, calling it the first of many such gifts. [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 9 ]
- The US has about 72 million minors, and the total value of the shares at current prices is about $10.5 billion. [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]
- Trump thanked Musk for the pledge. [ 10 , 11 ]
Still unclear
- How the shares will be distributed and who will qualify. Kommersant and Meduza say no details have been given, and iXBT says the procedure and participation criteria have not been disclosed.
- How many shares Musk holds. Interfax says about 4.8 billion shares as of August plus about 1.6 billion more through options and compensation, while Kommersant says he owns 6.4 billion shares.
- What Trump said in thanking Musk. The documents on Trump's reaction contain only headlines.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- iXBT publishes the report that Musk intends to give a SpaceX share to every American child. [ 1 ]
- TASS reports the promise and the 'first of many' wording. [ 2 ]
- RIA Novosti reports the pledge and quotes Musk's post. [ 4 ]
- Interfax reports the pledge with estimates of Musk's holdings and the number of US minors. [ 6 ]
- RBC reports that the total value could be about $10.5 billion. [ 7 ]
- Meduza reports the pledge, noting it came hours after Anthropic's announcement, citing Bloomberg. [ 9 ]
- On 20 October RIA Novosti publishes a headline saying Trump thanked Musk. [ 10 ]
- TASS publishes a headline saying Trump thanked Musk. [ 11 ]