SpaceX CEO announces donation of company stock to Trump’s accounts.
SpaceX CEO Gwen Shotwell announced that she and her husband will donate company stock to Trump’s accounts for more than two million American children. The announcement comes days after Trump said in an interview with CNBC that he expects Elon Musk to donate SpaceX stock to the program.
“Well, I think he will,” the president said, though Musk, who briefly became the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX’s record IPO, has yet to make any public comment on whether he will donate.“Every American child under 18 can benefit from having a Trump Account, but our gift goes specifically to the accounts of children (ages 11-17) who live in areas with lower median household incomes with a little more emphasis on those who live closer to our home in Central Texas,” Shotwell posted.
“We have been fortunate in our careers and hope this gift will encourage the next generation to continue the journey of enabling humanity to live and fly among the stars,” Shotwell added.MAGA commentator Musk-ally Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, put a number on the donation and said that at the current value of SpaceX stock, the donation from Shotwell and her husband would be worth $325 million.Shotwell is married to Robert Shotwell, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Trump accounts live now
On July 4, Trump Accounts, a new investment account for children, was launched. More than 6 million Trump accounts have been opened for children under 18, according to the Treasury Department. Of those, 1.4 million will receive the pioneering federal contribution of $1,000 for newborns. These accounts are owned by the child and the parents can make investments up to the age of 18. Only children who are US citizens and have a valid Social Security number can have a Trump account.
No child may have more than one child. To qualify for the one-time federal trial contribution, a child must be born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028.Shotwell, SpaceX’s longtime chief operating officer and Musk’s second-in-command, joins a growing list of executives and companies backing the accounts. Michael and Susan Dell have pledged $6.25 billion, Micron has pledged $250 million, and employers including BlackRock, Intel and JPMorgan Chase have said they will match the government’s $1,000 deposit.