space x President Gwynne Shotwell announced Monday that she would donate to the Trump Accounts program, joining a growing list of corporations and billionaires pledging to support investment accounts for American children under 18.
The gift, which includes Shotwell and her husband’s SpaceX stock, will go to about 2 million Trump accounts and will put “a little more emphasis” on children who live near their home in central Texas, Shotwell said in a post about X.
“We have been blessed with our careers, and we hope this gift will inspire future generations to continue our journey to enable humanity to live and fly among the stars,” Shotwell wrote.
Mr. Shotwell, who is also SpaceX’s chief operating officer, is one of the company’s largest individual shareholders, with shares worth about $2.4 billion following last month’s record IPO.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen that he thought SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would donate his company’s stock to the program.
The tax-deferred 530A account officially opened on July 4 and includes an initial deposit of $1,000 from the U.S. Treasury for infants born between 2025 and 2028.
Through its development, the following notable technology names have emerged: intel, robin hood and micron Companies offered to put in their own investment and match the government’s $1,000 contribution for specific children of their employees.
In last week’s funding announcement, Micron also committed a one-time $250 million seed deposit into the accounts of children in the communities where the company operates.
In December, Michael and Susan Dell committed $6.25 billion to programs aimed at helping children in their zip code who are 10 years old or younger and have a median income of less than $150,000.
Brad Gerstner, founder of Altimeter Capital, which helped spearhead the Trump Account program, called Shotwell’s donation “an extraordinary gift.”
“This shows the flexibility of this platform,” Gerstner said. “This is not a program, it’s a platform. This is the largest direct philanthropic release in the history of this country.”
