Musk Pledges SpaceX Shares to Every U.S. Child After Anthropic Feud

Elon Musk announced Monday he will give one SpaceX share to every child in the United States next year, a pledge made without any operational details and triggered by a public dispute with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic over how corporate equity should benefit society.

The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO posted on X that the initiative would be “the first of many.” He did not specify which children qualify, whether minors can legally hold private aerospace stock, or how the transfer would bypass existing securities regulations. SpaceX remains a privately held company valued at roughly $350 billion following its most recent funding rounds, meaning the total value of the proposed distribution could reach tens of billions of dollars depending on the number of eligible recipients.

The announcement followed a direct clash with Anthropic over the AI startup’s newly created Public Benefit Fund. Anthropic outlined plans Sunday to dedicate 5% of its shares to the fund, with provisions to contribute up to an additional 2% for every 50% increase in the company’s valuation above a set baseline. The structure caps total committed shares at approximately 20%, according to the company’s post on X.

Musk responded by urging Anthropic to distribute shares directly to the public rather than routing them through a dedicated fund entity. “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public,” he wrote Sunday. He later added, “This is what I will be doing,” before issuing the specific pledge regarding American children the following day.

Anthropic noted that its co-founders have already pledged to donate 80% of their personal equity. Around half of the company’s employees are participating in a donation matching program established at its founding, the company said.

Transferring private stock to minors presents significant legal hurdles. Federal securities laws restrict who can hold unregistered shares, and establishing custodial accounts for tens of millions of children would require extensive regulatory coordination. Musk offered no timeline or mechanism for navigating these constraints.

The exchange occurred as Musk continues to expand his footprint across multiple industries. Earlier this month, he received the National Medal of Science from President Donald Trump during the Golden Age of American Innovation Summit at the Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. Separately, Tesla recently debuted a flying version of its new Roadster, which the company claims accelerates to 60 mph in under a second.