Elon Musk made a generous promise on Monday, October 19. In a post on X, he wrote, "Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America." He closed with, "This will be the first of many."
The Census Bureau counts about 72 million Americans under 18. At Friday's closing price of $146.03, one share for each of them would be worth roughly $10.5 billion, according to Axios and CNBC. Musk has not yet said who counts as a kid or laid out a delivery plan.
The pledge came a day after a public conversation about sharing ownership. On October 18, Anthropic said it would set aside 5% of its shares for a new public benefit fund. Musk replied that he recommends "giving the shares directly to the public." He later added, "This is what I will be doing."
The "next year" part matches a lockup period. A lockup is an agreement that insiders sign with the banks that run an initial public offering (IPO). It keeps them from selling or moving their shares for a set time after a stock starts trading. SpaceX's final prospectus, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), says all of Musk's shares are locked for 366 days after the June 11, 2026, prospectus date. SpaceX began trading on Nasdaq the next day. That puts the end of his lockup at June 12, 2027. His shares get no early release along the way.
The prospectus does allow gifts during a lockup, but each person who receives shares must sign the same lockup agreement. Musk has not explained his timing, yet the end of his lockup lines up neatly with his promise.
The shares will go to kids through Trump Accounts. These are tax-advantaged investment accounts for American children under 18, created by a 2025 federal law. The Treasury Department has now opened one automatically for every eligible child with a Social Security number. President Trump said on X that Musk is giving SpaceX stock to millions of children "through TRUMP ACCOUNTS." Musk reposted that message. In July, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband pledged a SpaceX share to the Trump Account of each of more than two million children, ages 11 to 17, in lower-income areas.
Behind those accounts is careful IT work. According to Treasury, a parent or guardian must verify their identity and their relationship to the child before claiming an account. Those records must stay safe for years, because the money generally stays put until the child turns 18. These are the same basics any business needs for its valuable accounts and data. Verified identities, multifactor authentication (MFA), and well-protected records keep important things in the right hands for the long run.
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Image: SpaceX
