Musk Says Directly Distributing Shares to the Public is the Right Path
Elon Musk responded to Anthropic's plan to inject 5% of its shares into a public benefit fund, stating that giving shares directly to the public is a better approach. He also announced plans to gift one share of SpaceX stock to every child in the U.S. next year.
Musk posted on October 19: "Next year, I will give one share of SpaceX stock to every child in America. This will be the first of many times." There are approximately 72 million children under 18 in the U.S., and based on recent stock prices, the scale of this plan is estimated to be around $10.5 billion.
This statement follows Anthropic's announcement of establishing a public benefit fund and injecting 5% of its shares into it; Musk suggested "giving shares directly to the public" rather than through an intermediary fund.
SpaceX is set to go public in June 2026, with Musk holding about 48.4% economic interest (including trusts and unallocated portions) and controlling over 80% of the voting rights; his personal stake in SpaceX is sufficient to support the aforementioned share gifting without significantly diluting his control.
Musk has long advocated for employees to hold company shares to share in the upside and has repeatedly stated that AI and robotics will bring about an "abundant era," where wealth distribution should occur more through ownership rather than wages.
The proposal involves practical issues such as the transfer of privately held shares, arrangements for minors to hold shares, taxation, and liquidity, with specific execution details yet to be announced.
Market Mechanism: Founders directly distribute personal shares to the public or employees, shifting funds and ownership from concentrated holders to a broader group, benefiting recipients who gain future economic rights, while putting pressure on founders and companies needing to maintain control or facing dilution and tax costs.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Elon Musk has long allowed employees at SpaceX and Tesla to share in the company's appreciation through equity incentives and has repeatedly advocated that "creators" should earn wealth through producing products and services; his response to Anthropic's public benefit fund continues his stance of distributing ownership directly rather than through intermediaries.
In terms of capital, Musk plans to directly gift shares from his personal SpaceX holdings to American children while continuing to involve employees in the upside through company equity plans; the motivation is to pre-distribute "shares of the future economy" to a broader population in anticipation of AI and automation, rather than solely through wages or charitable funds.
This is analogous to early employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) or attempts by some companies to use part of their equity for public purposes; currently, there is a discussion phase regarding how AI may significantly alter labor and wealth relationships, with direct equity distribution proposed as an alternative to traditional wages or government redistribution.
Structurally, this is an attempt to shift capital concentration towards ownership dispersion: by directly granting founder shares to the public, the mechanism aims to enable more people to hold "shares of the future economy," allowing them to share in growth through asset appreciation when automation diminishes the importance of wages, rather than relying on intermediaries or simple cash transfers.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Shares represent future economic rights; giving them directly is better than through intermediaries.
Employee ownership aligns creators with beneficiaries.
In the automation era, ownership is more decisive for distribution than wages.