DOMINANT ANGLE
Canberra is measuring Musk's promise against the market: a donation of around 14 billion Australian dollars, backed by a valuation of SpaceX that the Australian press deems fragile.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Musk announced on X on Monday that he would give a SpaceX share to every American child in 2027, without specifying the terms, for an estimated value of over $10 billion.
- 02
There are just over 70 million minors in the US according to the census; the SpaceX share trades at under $150, far from its highs of over $200, for a valuation of around $1,900 billion.
- 03
The announcement follows that of Anthropic, which will first place 5% of its shares in a public interest fund; Musk responded by saying to give the shares "directly to the public".
ANALYSIS
Canberra, October 20, 2026. Australian media are reporting on Elon Musk's announcement in terms of numbers. According to PerthNow, the billionaire stated on X on Monday, October 19, that he would give a SpaceX share to every American child in 2027, a gesture that could be worth more than $10 billion US, or $14 billion Australian. He presented it as his first initiative of this type "of many", but, the newspaper notes, without providing details on how the plan would be implemented.
The calculation is detailed: according to the latest American census figures, there are just over 70 million people under the age of 18 in the United States, and at the current share price, one share per child would cost more than $10 billion US. PerthNow recalls that Musk's fortune, estimated by Forbes at over $900 billion US, is mostly made up of SpaceX and Tesla shares.
The press also sees this as a response to competition. The announcement may have been motivated by that of Anthropic, a rival in artificial intelligence, which over the weekend said it would place 5% of its shares in a fund to benefit the public. Musk responded to Anthropic on X: "I recommend giving the shares directly to the public".
PerthNow is particularly interested in placing the promise in the context of SpaceX's stock market performance. Listed on the stock exchange in June, the share initially soared, then fell well below its peak of over $200 US; it is now trading below $150 US, or less than $215 Australian. Questions remain about a valuation of around $1,900 billion US, as the rocket activity remains modest compared to this figure, which mainly reflects investors' expectations about artificial intelligence. SpaceX, the parent company of xAI, remains far behind Anthropic and OpenAI.
The Age, in its morning market report, inserts the announcement into a session where artificial intelligence values have rebounded on Wall Street after their worst week since June for the S&P 500, while the Australian stock exchange is set to fall by around 0.9%. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are also publishing a brief report on the announcement, with no further details available in the provided excerpts.
