Update (October 20, 2026): Late Monday, President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly tied Musk's pledge to Trump Accounts. The President thanked Musk for "giving SpaceX Stock to millions of American children through TRUMP ACCOUNTS," and Bessent said the donation would push the more than $8 billion already deposited into children's accounts "even higher." Neither statement sets out which children qualify, when the shares would arrive or how they would be delivered.
Elon Musk said on Monday, October 19, that he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year. "This will be the first of many," he wrote in a post on X. At Friday's closing price of $146.03 and the roughly 72 million U.S. children under 18 counted by the Census Bureau, the pledge is worth about $10.5 billion, per Newsweek.
The post itself does not mention Trump Accounts (530A) – but a few hours earlier, when another user replied that the plan would be "a very good idea" if he meant "donating via Invest America (Trump) accounts," Musk answered "Yes." By Monday evening the White House and Treasury were describing the gift the same way.
What Musk has said so far
The pledge rests on a handful of short posts. On Sunday, replying to an Anthropic announcement about setting aside company shares for a new public benefit fund, Musk wrote that he recommended "giving the shares directly to the public" and later added, "This is what I will be doing." His one-word "Yes" about Invest America (Trump) accounts followed, and the pledge itself came early Monday morning. Later Monday, Musk answered Invest America founder Brad Gerstner, who had tagged the official Trump Accounts account in a post praising the gift, with "Thanks for helping enable this."
Musk has not said which children count as a "kid in America," when next year the shares would arrive, or how they would be delivered. Newsweek reported that it had contacted SpaceX and the White House for comment, and Yahoo Finance noted that eligibility, age thresholds and distribution mechanics were not specified.
What the White House and Treasury said
On Monday afternoon the White House posted a statement from President Trump on X thanking Musk for "giving SpaceX Stock to millions of American children through TRUMP ACCOUNTS" and saying the gift is "exactly what was envisioned when we created TRUMP ACCOUNTS." The President's own post added that the program brings together "the GREAT PRIVATE SECTOR, Elon and so many more, to invest in our children."
That evening Bessent thanked Musk "for investing in the next generation" and wrote, "More than $8 billion has already been deposited into children's accounts, and this extraordinary donation will push that total even higher." He also urged parents to download the Trump Accounts app to claim their child's account.
Both statements describe the gift as going through Trump Accounts – but no statement from Treasury, the White House or Invest America describing its terms has been published.
How it compares with earlier gifts
At about $10.5 billion, the pledge would be the largest private commitment tied to the accounts that we have reported. Michael and Susan Dell committed $6.25 billion for $250 in the accounts of 25 million children born 2016-2024, per Invest America – and as our reporting on the Dells' deposits noted, that money is targeted by ZIP code income.
Musk's pledge also follows a SpaceX gift on a smaller scale. In July, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband said they would give one SpaceX share each to more than 2 million children ages 11-17 in lower-than-average-income ZIP codes, as our earlier coverage of the Shotwell gift explained. Musk's wording – every kid, with no birth-year or income test stated – would reach far more children, though the final terms are not yet known.
What the account rules say about donated stock
If the shares arrive through Trump Accounts as the President and the Treasury Secretary described, the existing rules already set out how a gift like this can work. Per Treasury's October 1 release, every eligible child under 18 with a valid Social Security number now has a Trump Account, opened automatically.
Under the temporary regulations Treasury published on September 30, an automatically opened account that a parent has not yet claimed may still accept qualified general contributions – gifts Treasury distributes in equal amounts to every child in a qualified class, such as all account holders, children in named states or areas, or children born in named years. Those gifts come from a government or a 501(c)(3) donor's general funding contribution, and they may be cash or qualified stock: publicly traded shares of a domestic company. A qualified general contribution does not count toward the $5,000/yr contribution limit.
Donated stock comes with a holding rule. Once it is in the account, it generally may not be sold until five years after the contribution or the end of the child's growth period – the December 31 of the year the child turns 17 – whichever comes first.
Whether Musk's gift will be structured as a qualified general contribution, made through a foundation, or handled some other way has not been announced. Nor has it been said how children without a Trump Account – such as those without a Social Security number – would be included.
What it means for families now
Nothing about the pledge changes how a child's account works today. Claiming the automatically opened account in the official Trump Accounts app is what lets family and employer money in and, per Treasury, is required for eligible children born 2025-2028 to get the one-time $1,000 seed; our guide to claiming an automatically enrolled account walks through the steps. Under the regulations, an unclaimed account can already receive a qualified general contribution.
We will update this story when Musk, Treasury or Invest America publishes the gift's terms. In the meantime, the Match & Bonus Finder lists the employer, state and philanthropic contributions that may apply to your child.