Elon Musk has pledged to give one SpaceX share to every child in the United States in 2027. At current prices, the gift would be worth more than $10 billion (about R164 billion).
Musk announced the plan on X on the night of 18 October. SpaceX closed at $146 (about R2,394) on Friday. At that price, the pledge would be worth about $10.5 billion (R172 billion) if it covers the roughly 72 million Americans aged 18 and under counted by the Census Bureau. TechCrunch, using a federal estimate of about 70 million children under 18, put the value at just over $10 billion. That is around 1% of Musk’s estimated net worth of about $1 trillion (R16.4 trillion).
Musk has not said how the shares will be distributed, which children will qualify, or whether recipients will need to hold the stock for a set period. In a separate post, he said he wanted to give shares directly to the public and described the gift as the first of many. SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| SpaceX share price (Friday close) | $146 (R2,394) |
| Children covered | 70m–72m |
| Estimated value of the pledge | $10bn–$10.5bn (R164bn–R172bn) |
| Musk’s Class A SpaceX shares | About 849m |
| SpaceX IPO price | $135 (R2,214) |
| Valuation at IPO | $1.77tn (R29tn) |
The pledge would use about 8% of Musk’s roughly 849 million Class A shares. He also holds more than 5.5 billion Class B shares, which carry enhanced voting rights.
The announcement followed a move by Anthropic. Ahead of its planned listing, the company said it would place 5% of its shares in a new public benefit fund to support nonprofits or make distributions to specific groups. Musk replied to Anthropic’s post on Sunday afternoon, arguing that shares should go directly to the public. Hours later, he said that was what he would do.
The most likely route is the Trump Accounts programme, a set of investment accounts for children run through the US Treasury. The government deposits $1,000 (R16,400) for each child born during President Donald Trump’s second term, invested in low-cost index funds. Treasury rules published in late September allow wealthy individuals and public companies to donate stock to the accounts. Account holders cannot refuse donated shares, and they cannot sell them for five years.
Musk would not be the first large donor. Michael and Susan Dell have pledged $6.25 billion (about R102.5 billion) to add $250 (R4,100) to the accounts of 25 million children in lower-income households. SpaceX has separately announced a donation of two million shares for children in lower-income families, many of them in Texas. Musk spent about $300 million (R4.9 billion) supporting Trump’s 2024 election campaign.
SpaceX listed on Nasdaq in June 2026 at $135 a share. It raised about $86 billion (R1.41 trillion) at a valuation of $1.77 trillion, the largest initial public offering on record. The shares have been volatile since.
Most of Musk’s previous giving has gone through the Musk Foundation, which TechCrunch describes as the fifth-largest private foundation in the US. A review by The Economist found that most of its money has gone to entities connected to Musk. Nearly 60% went to another charity, The Foundation, which is run by his money manager, Jared Birchall.