DOMINANT ANGLE
Belgrade is weighing Musk's announcement in numbers: approximately $10.5 billion in shares promised, without the distribution method being specified.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
About 72 million American minors and a share price of $146.03: the promise would represent about $10.5 billion (Blic, citing CNBC).
- 02
Musk owns about 48.4% of SpaceX, including unacquired shares, or 6.4 billion shares (Blic, based on an August SEC filing).
- 03
The announcement followed that of Anthropic, which wants to put 5% of its shares into a public interest fund; Musk recommended giving them "directly to citizens" (Beta).
ANALYSIS
Belgrade, October 20, 2026. Serbian media are treating Elon Musk's announcement as primarily a financial matter. Blic, which headlines with "the richest man in the world", reports that the SpaceX boss announced on Monday on his X network that he would offer one of his shares to each child in the United States next year. The daily immediately notes that it was not specified "how this distribution would be implemented in practice".
The figures come from American sources. Citing CNBC, Blic estimates around 72 million minors according to the Census Bureau, and at $146.03 per share at Friday's close, a total of around $10.5 billion. The media outlet recalls that Musk held, according to an August filing with the SEC, around 4.8 billion shares, or 48.4% of the capital including unacquired securities. N1 Serbia, which relies on CNN, arrives at 73 million minors and $10.7 billion, and emphasizes that SpaceX, valued at around $2 billion, has been listed only since June after the largest IPO in history. According to N1, the text "does not contain many details" and it is unknown if all children would be eligible.
N1 also places the promise in context: the "Trump accounts", a federal savings program where the Treasury registered millions of minors this month, with $1,000 paid to children born from 2025 to 2028. In July, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and her husband had promised a share to each of the approximately two million children already enrolled, prioritizing low-income families and Texas. N1 also mentions a context where tech giants are undergoing increasingly strict control.
Beta and Blic are mirroring the announcement with that of Anthropic, which said on Sunday it wanted to pay 5% of its shares to a public interest fund, the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. Musk responded: "I recommend that the shares be distributed directly to citizens". Beta explains Anthropic's public interest company status, which plans to go public as early as November, and recalls that SpaceX went public in June, making Musk the first billionaire. Musk added: "This will be the first of many distributions", without further details. The three titles do not mention the midterm elections or past unfulfilled promises.
