Musk Pledges SpaceX Shares for Every American Child in 2027

Elon Musk has pledged to distribute one SpaceX share to every child in the United States in 2027, announcing the plan on X on October 19. The proposal follows a public exchange with artificial intelligence company Anthropic over how corporations and their leaders should allocate equity for the public benefit.

Musk did not disclose how the distribution would work, who would qualify beyond the children described in his announcement, or how recipients would receive their shares. Fortune estimated the proposed giveaway at approximately $10.7 billion, using a share price of $147.96 and its report that the plan covers children under 18 in the United States.

In his October 19 post, Musk described the proposed distribution as the beginning of a broader initiative.

"Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many," Musk wrote on X.

The announcement followed Musk's response to Anthropic's plans for a public benefit fund. The company had outlined a commitment to dedicate part of its equity to initiatives intended to benefit the public, prompting Musk to advocate distributing shares directly to individuals.

"I recommend giving the shares directly to the public," Musk wrote in response to Anthropic's announcement.

He subsequently indicated that he intended to adopt that approach through his own proposed distribution. His announcement the following day identified American children as the intended recipients but provided no further implementation details.

"This is what I will be doing," Musk added in a separate post on X.

Anthropic announced that its newly established Anthropic Public Benefit Fund would initially receive 5% of the company's shares. According to the company's October 18 statement, additional contributions could reach up to 2% for every 50% increase in company value above a specified baseline, subject to board discretion.

Anthropic said its arrangements could ultimately commit approximately 20% of its shares to public benefit. The company also described existing equity donation commitments from its founders and employees.

"Our co-founders have already pledged to donate 80% of their equity, and around half our employees are donating a portion of their equity as part of a donation matching program we’ve run since our founding," Anthropic said in its statement.

The company characterized the fund as a wholly owned entity dedicated to public benefit, distinguishing its approach from Musk's proposal to distribute shares directly to individual recipients.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell had also announced a separate initiative the previous week, pledging to give more than 2 million children a share of her stock through a Trump Account, according to Fortune's October 20 report.

Neither Musk's announcement nor the available reports provided a distribution schedule, eligibility procedures, or details about how the proposed SpaceX shares would be transferred to children.