Gwynne Shotwell’s $300 million SpaceX pledge to Trump Accounts shows billionaires a tax-smart way to give away their own company’s stock

In a new type of philanthropy, billionaire SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell has pledged to give more than 2 million American kids a piece of her company through Trump Accounts.

Under new Treasury rules , the ultrawealthy can now do the same with theirs, and the tax code makes it an especially efficient way to give.

The rules, which took effect Sept.

30, let wealthy donors, working through charities such as private foundations, put shares of publicly traded U.S. companies directly into Trump Accounts , the tax-advantaged investment accounts for children that launched July 4.

As of Oct.

1, the Treasury had opened an account for nearly every eligible child under 18, or about 60 million kids .

Previously, money in Trump Accounts went into low-cost index funds, which spread an investment across hundreds or thousands of companies, theoretically lowering the risk of losing everything if one company tanks.

But the new rules make an exception for donated stock, opening the door for the ultrawealthy, whose fortunes are often tied up in shares of the companies they’ve built.

“For a founder sitting on billions of dollars of appreciated stock, this could be an extraordinarily attractive way to give,” Kevin Gentry, founder and CEO of nonprofit fundraising consultancy TenX Strategies, told Fortune .

Shotwell and her husband, Robert, said in July they would “gift a share of our SpaceX stock to a Trump Account for each of more than two million children across our great nation,” she wrote on X.

The gift targets kids ages 11 to 17 in lower-income areas, with extra emphasis on those near the couple’s central Texas home.

At the time, President Donald Trump valued the gift at $325 million , and as of Thursday (assuming the current share price) it would be worth about $330 million.

Shotwell announced her pledge before Treasury finalized the rules, which now require stock gifts to come through a charity and win Treasury’s approval.

Shotwell has been the only donor to announce a major stock gift, the Wall Street Journal reported , but Treasury notes show others have expressed interest in similar donations.