Elon Musk, chief executive officer of SpaceX, has said he will give one share in the aerospace company to every child in the United States next year, a proposed giveaway that could be worth about $10.5 billion.
Musk announced the plan on Monday, October 19, 2026, in a post on X, but did not provide details on how the shares would be distributed or how eligible children would receive them.
“This will be the first of many,” Musk said in the post.
According to an August filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk owns about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares. His holdings rise to 6.4 billion when unvested awards and stock options are included, representing a 48.4% beneficial stake in the company.
US Census Bureau data showed that the country had approximately 72 million children under the age of 18 as of July 1, 2025.
Musk has not clarified whether the plan would cover every child regardless of age, residency status or other eligibility requirements. CNBC said it had contacted SpaceX for further comment.
Musk’s Announcement Follows Anthropic’s Public Benefit Fund Plan
The announcement came after Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind Claude, disclosed plans to allocate 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund.
Subject to shareholder approval, the fund would initially receive the 5% stake, with its board having discretion to add another 2% for every 50% increase in the company’s value above a baseline that has yet to be disclosed.
Anthropic said the fund could support large donations to traditional nonprofits, direct distributions to specific populations and initiatives to study and address the effects of artificial intelligence on employment.
Responding to Anthropic’s announcement on X on Sunday, Musk recommended distributing shares directly to the public, adding that he intended to follow that approach.
