Upgrade to SI Premium - Free Trial

Musk pledges one share of SpaceX to every U.S. child

October 19, 2026 8:55 AM

Investing.com - Elon Musk pledged Monday to give one SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) share to every child in America next year, a commitment valued at roughly $10.5 billion based on the stock's Friday close and Census Bureau data showing approximately 72 million U.S. residents under 18.

Musk posted his announcement on X before 4 a.m. ET Monday. "Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many," he wrote.

The post offered no details on eligibility, age thresholds, distribution mechanics, or whether a custodial structure would be involved.

Musk's gift proclamation appeared to follow an exchange Sunday, October 18, in which Anthropic disclosed it would commit 5% of its stock to a new public benefit fund. Musk replied to that announcement, "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public," before adding, "This is what I will be doing."

At 72 million shares and a Friday close of $146.03, the pledge would eclipse Michael Dell's record-setting $6.25 billion contribution to Trump Accounts by nearly $4.25 billion.

Forbes calculates Musk's net worth at approximately $908.5 billion, placing the pledge at roughly 1% of his current fortune. The 72 million shares would represent about 1.5% of his reported SpaceX holdings of approximately 4.8 billion shares outright.

The comparison to Trump Accounts is fitting context. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband had earlier pledged more than $320 million in SpaceX stock, covering over 2 million shares, to Trump Accounts for low-income children, Business Insider reported. The Trump Accounts program, created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, provides tax-advantaged custodial investment accounts with a $1,000 federal seed deposit for children born between 2025 and 2028 and accepts third-party share donations. Whether Musk's pledge is structured through Trump Accounts or a separate vehicle has not been disclosed.

For investors, today's news will likely take a back seat to Tuesday's earnings report. Evercore ISI raised its SpaceX price target to $275 ahead of the print, citing compute growth potential, and Morgan Stanley has similarly lifted its target on distributed inference opportunity, according to Investing.com. The stock has traded between $104.83 and $225.64 over the past 52 weeks and has settled into the $145-$165 range through October after reaching a post-IPO record close of $211.39 on June 16, following the company's listing at $135 in June 2026.

Original Article

Categories

General News Investing

Next Articles