On December 2, 2025, tech billionaire Michael Dell and his wife Susan announced a historic $6.25 billion philanthropic commitment to seed investment accounts for 25 million American children under the age of 10.
This pledge, made through their Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, aims to encourage families to claim and utilize the new “Trump Accounts”—tax-advantaged savings vehicles created under President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law on July 4, 2025.
The accounts are designed to function like trust funds, allowing contributions from family, employers, corporations, and donors, with funds invested (primarily in index funds) until the child turns 18, when they can be withdrawn for qualified purposes like education or homeownership.Key Details of the Pledge
The Dells will deposit $250 into each qualifying child’s account, totaling $6.25 billion. This targets children born before January 1, 2025 (who miss the federal newborn grants), prioritizing those in ZIP codes with median household incomes of $150,000 or less.
Accounts open automatically upon parental signup via a new tax form (though advocates have pushed for automatic enrollment via Social Security numbers). The program launches on July 4, 2026, coinciding with the U.S.’s 250th anniversary of independence. Older children (up to age 10) may benefit if funds remain after initial allocations.
For newborns from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2028, the U.S. Treasury provides a one-time $1,000 seed grant (not counting toward the $5,000 annual contribution limit). Dell Technologies has also pledged to match this with an additional $1,000 for employees’ newborns.
The “Trump Accounts” build on the Invest America initiative, originally brainstormed in 2021, and represent a novel public-private partnership for wealth-building.
President Trump hailed the Dells’ gift at a White House event as “the greatest investment we could make in children,” suggesting it could inspire similar pledges from other philanthropists and corporations. Michael Dell emphasized the long-term compounding effects, stating, “What we hope is that every child sees a future worth saving for.”
Susan Dell added that the program allows unprecedented scale: “This allows us to reach such a huge number of children.”
This dwarfs the foundation’s prior $2.9 billion in giving (mostly to education) and is among the largest single U.S. charitable commitments ever, surpassing precedents like the $500 Maine newborn grants from the Harold Alfond Foundation.
Critics, including some Democrats, argue the program favors middle-class families over low-income ones, but the Dells’ income-targeted allocation addresses this partially.
The White House anticipates more donations, potentially supercharging the initiative for generational prosperity.
