Elon Musk says he plans to give one of his own SpaceX shares to every child in the United States next year. “Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America,” he wrote in a post on X at 7:52 AM UTC (12:52 AM PT) on Monday, Oct. 19. “This will be the first of many.” This desk read the post on X; by about 10:00 AM PT it showed more than 18 million views and more than 400,000 likes. CNBC carried the earliest report this desk found, published at 8:39 AM UTC (1:39 AM PT).

The post leaves the mechanics open. CNBC says Musk gave no further details on how the giveaway would happen and that it reached out to SpaceX and Musk’s family office. CNN calls the proposal thin on detail and says it remains unclear how the shares would reach tens of millions of children or whether all of them would qualify. Euronews, writing with the AP, says he has yet to explain who would qualify or how the shares would go out. This desk found no SpaceX statement on the plan.

The outlets’ estimates of the gift differ. CNBC cites census data for 72 million children under 18 in the US as of July 1, 2025, and puts the gift at about $10.5 billion at SpaceX’s Friday close of $146.03. CNN, citing the Census Bureau, counts roughly 73 million people under 18 and puts it at about $10.7 billion at the current share price. Euronews uses approximately 73 million children and the same $146.03 close for about $10.66 billion, rounded to $10.7 billion in its summary. This desk did not read the census table itself, and none of the three outlets says which date or price will apply next year.

CNN says Musk’s offer came in response to Anthropic’s announcement. In a post on its website dated Oct. 18, Anthropic says that, subject to stockholder approval, it will commit 5% of its shares to the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, a wholly owned LLC, with an additional 2% added at the board’s discretion for every 50% rise in the company’s value above a set baseline. Anthropic says the fund might pursue large donations to nonprofits or direct distributions to specific populations, and that none of its equity will go to lobbying or political giving. CNN values the 5% stake at $48 billion at the private company’s latest valuation.

Musk answered Anthropic’s X post on Sunday afternoon. “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public,” he wrote at 1:16 PM PT (post), and about four hours later, in the same thread: “This is what I will be doing” (post). CNN runs the two replies together as one quote joined by an ellipsis; the X API shows them as separate posts. On Monday morning Musk added, replying to another account: “Yes, giving shares, which are stakes in the future economy, directly to the people is the way” (post).

CNBC says Musk owns about 4.8 billion SpaceX shares, according to an August SEC filing, a figure that rises to 6.4 billion counting unvested awards and stock options, which it describes as a 48.4% beneficial stake. By the outlets’ counts, a share per child would take roughly 72 million to 73 million of those shares. CNN says SpaceX began trading publicly in June after the biggest initial public offering in history; Euronews says SpaceX shares have fallen 35.3% since peaking days after the IPO and that the company reports quarterly earnings on Tuesday.

Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital, founder of Invest America, wrote on X: “Incredible Elon! This will be the largest philanthropic gift in history!” (post). CNBC says Gerstner suggested the shares could go out through Trump Accounts. CNN says the Treasury Department this month automatically signed up millions of under-18s to Trump Accounts, a new federal savings and investment vehicle, and that SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband pledged in July to donate one SpaceX share to each of roughly 2 million children already signed up.

CNBC describes Musk’s record on philanthropic promises as spotty: it says he gave about $38 million to OpenAI between 2016 and 2020 and had promised up to $1 billion, and that in 2021 he offered $6 billion to the UN World Food Program if it could show how the money would “solve world hunger”; the WFP posted a plan, and CNBC says Musk did not donate. CNN notes that Musk signed the Giving Pledge in 2012 and cites a New York Times analysis that put the Musk Foundation’s assets above $14 billion at the end of 2024.

CNBC says Musk has spent more than $276 million in donations to Republican groups since July, which it says makes him the biggest known donor of the 2026 midterm election; Euronews says he has given more than $276 million since July to try to preserve Republican majorities in Congress. Euronews links the Musk and Anthropic announcements to rising public wariness of AI, citing an AP-NORC poll in which 64% of Americans said AI develops “too fast.”

Correction · Oct 19, 2026, 3:59 PM PT: An earlier version of this story credited two lines in its perspective frames to outlets jointly. The AI-backlash frame credited both the scrutiny over safety, jobs and data centers and the polling on public unease to CNN and Euronews; CNN carries the backlash line and Euronews carries the AP-NORC poll. The track-record frame credited a missing timeline and eligibility rule to CNBC and CNN; neither outlet mentions a timeline, and of those two only CNN raises eligibility. This desk now credits each detail to the outlet that carries it.