What just happened? Elon Musk makes a lot of big promises, not all of which come to pass, but it's hard to see how he'll renege on this one. The world's richest person says he will give one of his SpaceX shares to every child in America next year, adding that "this will be the first of many."

Musk explained the plan on his X platform. He didn't elaborate, so we don't know details such as what ages will qualify for a free share, how he intends to distribute them, and exactly when the giveaway will take place in 2027.

It's estimated that Musk would be required to give a share to around 72 million people under the age of 18. SpaceX's share price is currently $146, so that would represent stock worth about $10.5 billion.

Musk certainly has plenty of SpaceX shares to hand out. The company's SEC filing in August showed he owned 6.42 billion shares as of June 30, including shares held in trusts for which he acts as trustee, restricted stock, and shares that could be issued upon exercising options.

Space X's year-to-date share price

Musk's announcement comes soon after Anthropic, xAI's rival, said it would commit 5% of its shares to a fund that will make donations for the "public good." The company later said that the fund could also receive another 2% of the firm's shares at its board's discretion. Anthropic's IPO could value the firm at more than $1 trillion

// Related Stories

Musk responded to the Anthropic announcement by writing "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public. This is what I will be doing."

The moves also echo the thinking behind Trump Accounts, the tax-advantaged investment accounts for children that give eligible US citizens born between 2025 and 2028 a $1,000 government-funded head start. Families, employers, and other donors can add money, which is invested in funds tracking US stocks to help children build wealth as they grow up.

There's already a SpaceX connection to the program. The company's chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, has pledged more than $320 million of her own SpaceX stock to help fund Trump Accounts for over two million children.