By Andrew Moran
Billionaire Elon Musk said he will give every child in the United States a stake in his $2 trillion aerospace and artificial intelligence (AI) company.
“Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” he wrote in an Oct. 19 post on X. “This will be the first of many.”
As of July 2025, close to 73 million children under 18 lived in the United States. With Musk owning about 4.8 billion shares—or 6.4 billion shares including stock options and unvested awards—and the share price at around $147, the total cost would be close to $11 billion.
But the world’s wealthiest person stopped short of providing further details, such as how he would distribute the shares or whether all kids are eligible for the donation.
The Treasury Department automatically enrolled tens of millions of children in Trump Accounts earlier this month. Additionally, the Treasury will now permit companies or charities to donate stock to these tax-advantaged accounts.
Musk’s pledge comes soon after AI giant Anthropic committed to contributing 5 percent of its shares to a new public benefit fund. The amount could increase as the company’s valuation grows.
“It will start off with 5 percent of our shares. For every 50 percent increase in the company’s value over a set baseline, we can contribute up to an extra 2 percent, subject to our board’s discretion,” Anthropic said in an Oct. 18 news release.
“In total, this means that roughly 20 percent of Anthropic’s shares are committed to the public good.”
Musk recommended on X that the company should instead be “giving the shares directly to the public,” adding, “this is what I will be doing.”
SpaceX, which debuted on Wall Street in June, will release its second earnings report after the Oct. 20 closing bell.
Market watchers project revenues of $12.74 billion to $12.89 billion, driven mainly by AI and Starlink.
Analysts also estimate earnings per share will be between $0.14 and $0.23. But the company’s capital expenditure spending—data centers and satellite deployments, for example—could total nearly $11 billion.
Looking ahead, its capex could accelerate further as it seeks to raise $40 billion to purchase advanced Nvidia AI chips. This signals that Musk aims to make SpaceX an AI computing juggernaut.
SpaceX shares are down about 8 percent since their debut.
Wall Street is optimistic, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a 51 percent 12-month price target, according to MarketBeat.
If SpaceX beats forecasts, it will join a growing list of U.S. companies—from Nike to JPMorgan Chase to UnitedHealth Group—that keep putting together better-than-expected earnings.
In addition to SpaceX, a few other major tech firms will post third-quarter earnings, including IBM, Meta Platforms, and Tesla Motors.
“The question this quarter isn’t whether AI will continue to grow, it’s whether investors are still willing to pay a premium for that growth. With earnings season just getting started, we’re about to find out,” Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, told The Epoch Times in an emailed note.
It is still early in earnings season, with only 9 percent of S&P 500 companies reporting actual results, according to FactSet data. Of those that have, 84 percent have reported earnings per share above estimates.
Still, third-quarter S&P 500 earnings are forecast to surge by more than 30 percent and could lay the groundwork for the U.S. stock market in 2027.
“Strong results could help stabilize sentiment, but disappointing guidance may add to the pressure,” Woods added.
