Musk Pledges a SpaceX Share to Every U.S. Child

Elon Musk said Monday, October 19, that he plans to give one SpaceX share to every child in America next year, a pledge that could involve about 72 million shares but has no announced distribution plan. Musk made the statement in a post on X, describing the proposed gift as “the first of many.” He did not define who would qualify as a child or explain how the shares would be transferred, held for minors or treated for tax purposes. The pledge remains a stated intention; no shares have been reported distributed. Using a U.S. Census Bureau estimate of just over 72 million people under 18 and SpaceX’s Friday closing price of $146.03, one share per child would be worth roughly $10.5 billion. That estimate assumes every person under 18 is eligible and values the shares at that closing price; Musk has not specified either condition. The value of any shares could change. The announcement followed a discussion with Anthropic about its proposed Public Benefit Fund. Musk had urged the artificial intelligence company to distribute shares directly to the public before saying he would do so himself. Anthropic has said it plans to commit 5% of its shares to the fund, with possible...