Elon Musk wants to give every American kid a piece of SpaceX. History shows what happens when millions become shareholders overnight.

Elon Musk says he'll give every child in the US a piece of his space company, SpaceX. Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images

Christmas came early: Elon Musk wants American children to own stock in his space company, SpaceX , next year.

Musk wrote on X around 1 a.m. Monday that he planned to make the donation next year — "the first of many," he said. SpaceX went public this summer.

Giving one share to each of the estimated 72 million US children would cost roughly $10.7 billion at SpaceX's closing price of $147.92 on Friday. Musk's 4.77 billion SpaceX shares were worth about $706 billion at that price, so the gift would reduce his holdings by about 1.5%.

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social on Monday that the shares would be transferred through Trump Accounts , tax-advantaged investment accounts for eligible American kids launched this summer.…