Elon Musk said on Monday that he will give every kid in America a share of SpaceX next year. He appeared to suggest the gift could land in Trump Accounts — thanking Brad Gerstner, an architect of the program, for "helping enable this" in a comment on X.
But if the shares are distributed through the new investment accounts for children, the gift could come with significant strings attached.
Musk's announcement comes weeks after the U.S. Department of the Treasury rolled out guidelines for stock donations to Trump Accounts, also known as 530A accounts. Those include restrictions on selling donated stock: Children who receive it generally cannot sell for five years, even if the company runs into financial trouble.
Treasury's temporary regulations, subject to revision after public comment, aim to encourage stock gifts. But they also give donors unusual influence over children's investments, according to lawyers and philanthropic experts who spoke with CNBC.
In the broader world of charitable giving, donors can typically express preferences about how their gifts are managed, but the receiving organization or trustee retains final authority, said Carolyn Schenck, an attorney and former national fraud counsel at the IRS.