Tech News · SpaceX
Musk pledges one SpaceX share to every child in America
Published 2 min read
Elon Musk says he will give one of his SpaceX shares to “every kid in America” in 2027. TechCrunch estimates the promised gift would exceed $10 billion, following Anthropic’s announcement of a public benefit fund backed by its shares.
In short
- Musk pledged to give one SpaceX share to every child in America in 2027.
- The Scranton Times-Tribune valued the pledge at about $10.66 billion, using approximately 73 million children and a $146.03 share price.
- Anthropic says it will commit 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund.
- Responding to Anthropic’s announcement, Musk wrote, “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public.”
- Promised allocation
- One SpaceX share per American child
- Pledged timing
- 2027
- Estimated total value
- About $10.66 billion
- Anthropic commitment
- 5% of its shares
What happened
Elon Musk pledged on Monday to give one share of SpaceX to “every kid in America.” TechCrunch reports that Musk said the distribution would happen in 2027, making the announcement a promise of a future gift.
The pledge followed Anthropic’s announcement that it would commit 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund. In a response to the company’s Sunday social media post, Musk wrote, “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public.”
TechCrunch estimated the gift would be worth more than $10 billion using a current SpaceX share price of $146. The Scranton Times-Tribune put the value at about $10.66 billion, based on approximately 73 million children under 18 in the United States and Friday’s closing price of $146.03.
Why it matters
Scale of pledge
At Friday’s closing share price, the promised distribution would represent about $10.66 billion for approximately 73 million American children.
Different donation approaches
Musk’s call for direct share transfers follows Anthropic’s commitment to a fund intended to support nonprofits or distribute benefits to specific populations.
What we know
Musk owns around 849 million Class A common shares of SpaceX and more than 5.5 billion Class B supervoting shares, according to TechCrunch.
Anthropic says its fund is intended to make “large donations to traditional nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations” after its upcoming initial public offering. Its announced approach therefore includes both nonprofit donations and direct distributions, while Musk has advocated giving shares directly to the public.
A separate mechanism for accepting stock donations already exists: TechCrunch reports that President Donald Trump established children’s bank accounts through the Treasury, called Trump Accounts, that can accept stock donations from wealthy donors.
The announcements come amid public concern about the pace of artificial intelligence development. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 64% of Americans think AI is developing “too fast,” compared with 27% who said its pace was “about right” and 8% who said it was “too slow.”