Musk, Anthropic outline plans to share over $110 billion

Elon Musk plans to give one personally owned SpaceX share to every child in the United States in 2027. Anthropic has proposed allocating 5% of its shares to a public benefit fund, subject to shareholder approval. Together, the plans could direct more than $110 billion toward children, charitable programs and efforts to address job losses linked to artificial intelligence.

Musk announced the SpaceX distribution on Oct. 19 and described it as the first of several planned giveaways. At SpaceX’s Oct. 16 closing price of $146.03, the proposed gift would be worth about $10.5 billion and would create roughly 72 million new shareholders.

The shares would be distributed through Trump Accounts, federally established investment accounts intended to help U.S. children build long-term wealth. President Donald Trump endorsed the pledge and noted that businesses and individuals could contribute assets to the accounts.

The distribution is expected to use Musk’s existing SpaceX holdings rather than new shares issued by the company. An August securities filing showed that Musk directly owned about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares. His beneficial ownership rose to about 6.4 billion shares when unvested awards and stock options were included. Giving away 72 million shares would reduce his directly held position by about 1.5%.

Treasury rules introduced in September allow qualifying publicly traded shares to be contributed directly to Trump Accounts. Donated stock generally must remain invested for five years or until the beneficiary’s designated growth period ends, whichever comes first. Musk has not explained how the transfer would cover every eligible child. Trump Account eligibility requires a Social Security number, while his announcement referred broadly to children in the United States.

Anthropic’s proposal would allocate 5% of the artificial-intelligence company’s shares to a new public benefit fund. At an estimated valuation of about $2 trillion, the stake would be worth approximately $100 billion.

The fund could support charitable donations, direct payments to selected groups and programs addressing job displacement caused by AI. Including existing commitments from employees and founders, Anthropic estimates that about 20% of its equity would be dedicated to public benefit. The proposed allocation could rise by two percentage points for every 50% increase in the company’s valuation above a specified baseline. Any increase would require board approval.

Musk urged companies to distribute shares directly to the public before announcing his SpaceX commitment. Financial executives have discussed direct stock distributions as a way for households with limited assets to own stakes in companies benefiting from AI-related growth.

Nick Percoco, an executive at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, estimated that a SpaceX share worth about $146 could reach roughly $1,800 after 18 years if it rose 15% annually. At annual growth rates of 20% and 25%, the share would reach about $3,900 and $8,100, respectively. The projections assume continuous growth, and the share could rise more slowly or lose value.

SpaceX is currently valued at about $2 trillion. A valuation of $50 trillion would imply a share price of roughly $3,700, while a $100 trillion valuation would imply about $7,400, based on estimates cited in the proposal’s discussion.