SpaceX CEO announces donation of company stock to Trump Accounts.
SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell announced that she and her husband will be donating company stock to the Trump Accounts of more than 2 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 that he will do that,” the president said, though Musk, who briefly became the world’s first trillionaire following SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO, has yet to make any public comment on whether he would donate.”Every American child under 18 can benefit from having a Trump Account, but our gift specifically goes to the Accounts of children (ages 11-17) that live in areas with lower average household incomes with a bit more emphasis for those that live near our central Texas home,” Shotwell posted. “We have been fortunate in our careers and hope this gift encourages the next generation to continue the journey of enabling humanity to live and fly amongst the stars,” Shotwell added.MAGA commentator, Musk-ally, and the wife of Stephen Miller, Katie Miller, put a figure to the donation and said that at the current value of SpaceX stock, the donation from Shotwell and her husband will be valued at $325 million.Shotwell is married to Robert Shotwell, an engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Trump Accounts are now live
On July 4, Trump Accounts, a new investment account for children, went live. More than 6 million Trump Accounts have been opened for children under age 18, according to the Treasury Department. Of those, 1.4 million will receive the much-touted $1,000 federal pilot contribution for newborns. These accounts belong to the child and the investment can be done by parents until the age of 18. Only children who are US citizens and have a valid Social Security number may have a Trump Account. And no child may have more than one. To qualify for the one-time federal pilot contribution, the 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 committed $250 million, and employers including BlackRock, Intel, and JPMorgan Chase have said they will match the government’s $1,000 deposit.
