Elon Musk declared that he will distribute one SpaceX share to every child in the United States over the next year. Based on an estimate of about 73 million minors in the country and the current stock price, this distribution could total US$ 10.7 billion, which is equivalent to approximately R$ 54.1 billion.
This announcement was made on X, one day after Anthropic disclosed plans to allocate 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund. Musk has not yet detailed the method of delivering the securities or who the recipients will be.
Musk wrote on X on Monday: 'Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every child in America,' adding that this would be just the first of several initiatives.
The promise lacks defined criteria for selecting beneficiaries and clear information about the share transfer process.
SpaceX shares traded at US$ 146.03 on Friday (about R$ 741). According to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau mentioned in the original article, the population under 18 in the country is approximately 73 million individuals. Thus, one share per child would have an estimated value of US$ 10.66 billion (about R$ 54.1 billion).
Musk's proposal comes amid other commitments made by major American businessmen. Previously, Anthropic announced its intention to dedicate 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund, intended to support charities or direct resources to specific population groups. In response, Musk suggested that the competitor deliver the shares directly to the public instead of centralizing them in a fund.
Other share donations to children have been announced by people associated with SpaceX. This year, Gwynne Shotwell, the company's president, and her husband promised to donate one share to each of the nearly two million children enrolled in the Trump Accounts program. Simultaneously, Michael and Susan Dell committed to contributing US$ 6.25 billion (approximately R$ 31.7 billion) to this program.
In 2021, Musk made a donation of about US$ 5.7 billion (R$ 28.9 billion) in Tesla shares to charities. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal points out that the businessman's net worth exceeds US$ 900 billion (more than R$ 4.56 trillion), with the majority concentrated in his stake in SpaceX. The same survey calculated that Musk earned an average of US$ 3.6 million per hour over his 31 years in engineering and technology fields.
To date, Musk has not specified when the distribution will begin or how the shares will be delivered to the children. Musk's statement regarding the distribution of SpaceX shares was initially published by Olhar Digital.