Elon Musk pledges a SpaceX share to every child in America, Forbes reports | Wealth Office
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Elon Musk pledges a SpaceX share to every child in America, Forbes reports

The world's richest person says he will give one of his own SpaceX shares to each American child next year, a gift Forbes values at about $10.5bn.

Forbes reports that Elon Musk has said he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, describing it on X as the first of many such gifts. Based on Census figures of about 72.1 million people under 18 and a premarket SpaceX share price of around $147.52, Forbes estimates the giveaway at about $10.5 billion. That would be just over 1% of the 6.42 billion SpaceX shares Musk held as of 30 June, according to an August filing. Musk did not say when the shares would be distributed, who would be eligible or how they would be transferred. Forbes estimates his net worth at $908.5 billion.

The announcement followed Musk's criticism of Anthropic's plan to commit 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund. Forbes notes that SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and her husband earlier pledged a share each to the government's Trump Accounts for more than 2 million children, and that the Treasury has since allowed donations of individual company shares.

Why it matters: Giving shares directly to millions of individuals is a striking departure from foundations and donor-advised funds. It blurs philanthropy, public relations and politics, and leaves open questions of tax treatment, eligibility and custody. For other principals, it signals that founders of newly listed companies may increasingly use their own equity as a philanthropic currency, with all the scrutiny that brings.

Source: Forbes, October 19, 2026. Wealth Office summarises reporting by other publications and links to the original.