Elon Musk Wants Every Kid To Have a Piece Of His Trillion-Dollar Empire

Photo Kevin Dietsch

The world’s richest man says he will hand every kid in America a piece of his rocket company, but he has not said how the gift would work.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk pledged to give one share of the company to every child in the U.S. next year, he said in a Monday X post. Musk made the pledge after telling rival AI company Anthropic to give its own shares “directly to the public” in an X post on Sunday.

The video player is currently playing an ad.“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many,” the trillionaire wrote early Monday morning on X.

The gift could be worth approximately $10.5 billion if he gives all 72 million U.S. children a share of SpaceX at roughly $146.03 each, CNBC reported. SpaceX has a market capitalization around $2 trillion.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell pledged on July 6 to give a share of the company to each of the 2 million Trump Accounts, CNBC reported.

“Incredible Elon! This will be the largest philanthropic gift in history!” Brad Gerstner, Altimeter Capital CEO and founder of Invest America, said on X in response to Musk’s comments. “[Seventy] M accounts – every citizen under 18 & every child born forevermore now has a free, lifetime investment acct making them an owner in the upside of America & our greatest companies!”

SpaceX did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“Thank you, [Elon Musk], for investing in the next generation. More than $8 billion has already been deposited into children’s accounts, and this extraordinary donation will push that total even higher,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X Monday..

“A BIG THANK YOU to our legendary friend, [Elon Musk], for his incredible generosity in giving SpaceX Stock to millions of American children through TRUMP ACCOUNTS! ” the White House’s X account wrote in a Monday post.

When asked for comment, the Treasury Department referred the DCNF to Bessent’s and the White House’s X posts.

Musk did not say whether he would use Trump Accounts for this giveaway. Under temporary the Treasury Department and IRS rules that began on Sept. 30, the accounts can accept individual stock donations.

Regulators warn that account holders “will bear some additional risk in the form of increased portfolio concentration,” according to temporary Treasury regulations. Donated shares “must generally be held for five years.”

Directly donating shares also lets wealthy shareholders avoid capital gains taxes, CNBC reported.

Gerstner’s Invest America pitched the idea of Trump accounts to Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024 as an opportunity to give children investment accounts, the Texas Tribune reported. Trump Accounts are government-run investment accounts created for every child under 18 with a Social Security number.

Musk separately warned that advanced AI could be compelling enough to win over the masses, and perhaps even himself.

“So many people are going to get one-shotted by super persuasive super intelligences and I might be one of them,” Musk said on X early Monday morning.