Elon Musk has pledged to give every child in the United States one share in SpaceX next year, a plan that could be worth more than US$10 billion (£7.5 billion).
The billionaire announced the proposal on X, saying it would be the first of “many” initiatives of its kind. He did not explain how the distribution would be organised or who would administer it.
The latest US census figures put the number of people under 18 in the country at just over 70 million. At SpaceX’s current share price, providing one share to each child would cost more than US$10 billion.
Musk’s wealth is estimated by Forbes at more than US$900 billion, much of it tied to his holdings in SpaceX and Tesla, the electric car company he also leads.
The announcement came after rival artificial intelligence company Anthropic said it would initially place 5 per cent of its shares into a fund intended to benefit the public. Musk responded: “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public.”
SpaceX is the parent company of Musk’s artificial intelligence business, xAI. Its shares rose sharply after the company’s stock market debut in June, but have since fallen from highs above US$200 and are now trading below US$150.
The company’s valuation is about US$1.9 trillion, although questions remain over that figure. SpaceX’s rocket business is relatively small compared with its market value, which largely reflects investor expectations about future growth in artificial intelligence.
SpaceX currently trails AI companies including Anthropic and OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT.
