“The richest person in the world” announces “giving every child in America a share in SpaceX.” What is the story?

- Elon Musk, dubbed “the richest person in the world,” announced that he will give every child in the United States a share in his company, “SpaceX,” which specializes in aviation, space, and artificial intelligence, and whose value is estimated at about two trillion dollars, at a time when technology companies face increasing scrutiny about their impact on society. Musk wrote on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter), on Monday: “Next year, I will give a share of my SpaceX stock to every child in America.

This will be the first step of many to come.” It is noteworthy that “SpaceX” began public trading in June, after the largest initial public offering in history, and the share price at the market’s close on Friday was about $146.

Musk did not provide clear details about his proposal; It is still unknown how these shares will be distributed to tens of millions of American children, or whether all of them will be eligible to receive them. According to the United States Census Bureau, the number of people under the age of 18 is approximately 73 million; Which means that the value of this initiative, based on SpaceX's current stock price, could reach about $10.7 billion.

The idea of ​​giving young people a stake in the US stock market is not new; This month, the US Treasury Department automatically enrolled millions of children (under the age of 18) into “Trump Accounts,” a new savings and investment tool, where children born between the beginning of 2025 and the end of 2028 are entitled to a one-time government contribution of $1,000. In July, SpaceX CEO Gwen Shotwell and her husband pledged to donate one share of the company's stock to each of the nearly two million children already enrolled in these accounts.

The couple explained that they would give priority in donations to children from low-income families, as well as to children residing in Texas, where SpaceX is headquartered. Musk's offer came in response to Anthropic's announcement on Sunday that it would allocate at least 5% of its shares — valued at about $48 billion according to the company's latest valuation — to a "public benefit fund" dedicated to supporting social causes.

The company said on its website that the fund may make “large donations” to non-profit organizations or “direct distributions to specific demographic groups,” noting that these funds may help mitigate the impact that artificial intelligence may have on people’s jobs. Elon Musk responded on the “X” platform, saying: “I recommend giving shares directly to the public, and this is what I will do.”

In 2012, Musk signed the “Giving Pledge,” which is a commitment that the world’s richest individuals make to donate most of their wealth for charitable purposes, whether during their lives or through their wills. According to its website, his charitable foundation, the Musk Foundation, focuses on providing grants in several areas, including renewable energy, space exploration, and pediatric research.

According to an analysis conducted by the New York Times last year, the foundation’s assets amounted to more than $14 billion by the end of 2024, making it one of the largest charitable organizations in the United States, but the newspaper indicated that the foundation’s donations that year mostly went to organizations closely linked to Musk’s business interests. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the New York Times report.

Musk has previously publicly questioned the utility of traditional philanthropy. Speaking on the topic on the “People by WTF” podcast last year, Musk said: “We should try to do things that help people.”

He added: "The biggest challenge I face with my organization is trying to donate money in a way that truly benefits people. It is very easy to donate money just to appear as a philanthropist, but it is very difficult to donate it to actually achieve goodness." In 2021, Musk stated that he would sell shares in Tesla worth $6 billion and donate them to the United Nations World Food Program, on the condition that the program explains how these funds will contribute to “solving the problem of hunger in the world.”

It does not appear that Musk has donated this amount yet. The presentations by Elon Musk and Anthropic come at a time when artificial intelligence companies are facing harsh criticism regarding the safety of their products. Anthropic itself recently warned of an “existential threat to humanity” that could arise from this technology.

There are also concerns about the possibility of artificial intelligence causing massive numbers of people to lose their jobs, as well as the social and environmental repercussions resulting from the massive expansion of the data centers on which this sector depends. And the matter is not limited to that, as the giants of the technology sector are facing increasing criticism in general.

New works of art - such as the film The Social Reckoning, which tells the story of a Facebook employee who exposes unsafe practices within the company, and the documentary You Can See Everything, which follows the career of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of a blood testing startup who was convicted of fraud - help remind audiences of the reckless behavior that has long characterized some of the biggest players in the technology sector. Elon Musk himself has also become the focus of a new documentary titled “Musk,” which reviews his life and career, and directs harsh criticism of some of his business practices, in addition to his controversial entry into politics.