Elon Musk has pledged to give one SpaceX share to every “kid” in America next year, but he has not defined the age cutoff, clarified whether the offer covers all children in the country or only citizens, or explained how the shares would be distributed. The pledge could be worth nearly $11 billion if it covered about 73 million people under 18 at the share value reported on the day of the announcement.
Musk appeared to connect the plan to Trump Accounts, the child investment accounts created under federal tax law. President Donald Trump described the pledge as private-sector participation in the program, while Musk thanked Brad Gerstner, who helped develop it, for enabling the donation.
That route would place the shares under Treasury’s rules for donated stock. Families generally cannot refuse stock contributed to a child’s Trump Account, and beneficiaries generally cannot sell it until the earlier of five years or the end of the calendar year in which they turn 17.
More than six million families had signed up before the program’s official launch, and the department said the accounts were intended to help children begin saving and investing early.
Musk’s proposal would follow an earlier pledge from SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell and her husband to give one SpaceX share to each of more than 2 million children’s Trump Accounts.
The proposed donation would also sit alongside Treasury’s investment framework, which emphasizes low fees, broad diversification and index funds. Treasury identified an S&P 500 exchange-traded fund as the default investment for Trump Accounts and said eligible choices should track broad U.S.
The final number of recipients, eligibility rules, timing and transfer method for Musk’s pledge remain unresolved. His announcement is a commitment to make the donation next year, not a completed transfer.