WASHINGTON — Billionaire Elon Musk says he will give a piece of SpaceX to every child in the United States.

"Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America," Musk wrote on X early on Monday, October 19, 2026, adding that it would be "the first of many."

The pledge came just a day after Musk publicly criticised rival AI company Anthropic over its new plan to set aside 5% of its shares in a fund for the public good. Musk urged Anthropic to hand its shares directly to the public instead, then announced he would do exactly that with his own SpaceX stock.

With roughly 72 million Americans under 18, the giveaway could be worth around US$10.5 billion to US$11 billion at recent prices.

How it started: Anthropic's fund

On Sunday, October 18, Anthropic, the San Francisco company behind the Claude AI assistant, announced the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a new entity wholly owned by the company and dedicated to the public good.

According to reports on the announcement:

  • Anthropic will put 5% of its stock into the fund
  • it may add another 2% each time its valuation rises by 50% from a set benchmark, subject to board approval and shareholder consent
  • the fund will make donations for public-benefit purposes, rather than hand shares to individuals

Anthropic also said its co-founders committed 80% of their own equity to charity when the company was founded. Combined with an employee donation-matching programme and the new fund, the company says roughly 20% of its shares are now committed to the public good.

Musk's response

Musk replied to Anthropic's post on X with a short suggestion: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public." The next morning, he announced his own SpaceX share giveaway.

The two approaches are quite different:

Musk and Anthropic are direct competitors in artificial intelligence. SpaceX, which listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in June 2026 under the ticker SPCX, absorbed Musk's AI company xAI earlier this year, making it both an aerospace and an AI business.

The numbers behind the pledge

The giveaway is not the first of its kind at SpaceX. In July, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband pledged one share each to more than two million American children through government-backed savings accounts known as Trump Accounts, a gift worth about US$320 million at the time.

Big questions, few answers

For now, the pledge exists only as a post on X. There has been no SpaceX press release or regulatory filing, and Musk has not said:

  • when in 2027 the shares will be handed out
  • who qualifies, for example whether "every kid in America" means US citizens only, or every child living in the country
  • how the shares will be delivered to millions of children, and whether parents will need to sign up
  • what "the first of many" means, and whether more giveaways will follow

Some reports suggest the Trump Accounts used in the Shotwell gift could be the most likely route, but Musk has not confirmed this. The total value will also depend on SpaceX's share price, which could rise or fall before any handout.

A new kind of giving

The exchange highlights a growing debate over how the huge wealth created by technology companies should be shared. Supporters of Musk's approach say direct ownership gives ordinary families a real stake in a company's success. Supporters of Anthropic's approach argue that a dedicated fund can direct money where it is needed most, such as research, health or education, rather than spreading small amounts thinly.

What about children outside the US?

For Ghanaian parents wondering whether their children could benefit: on Musk's own wording, the pledge is for "every kid in America", so children in Ghana and elsewhere are not expected to be included.