Michael Dell, the owner of Dell Technologies, along with his wife Susan Dell, have pledged $6.25 billion to help President Donald Trump's initiative to introduce children to investing as part of his One Big Beautiful Bill.
Under Trump's plan, parents of children born as U.S. citizens between 2025 and 2028 would receive $1,000 grants to open investment accounts in the children's names.
The Dells' contribution would add 25 million to the number of children who could be helped with the grants, giving $250 each for children under 10 years old who were not covered under Trump's window and live in zip codes with median incomes of $150,000 or less.
The donation will be the largest for American children ever given, according to the non-profit Invest America that works with the Dells.
“It’s designed to help families feel supported from the start and encourage them to keep saving as their children grow,” Michael Dell told CNBC in an interview. “We know that when children have accounts like this, they’re much more likely to graduate from high school, from college, buy a home, start a business and less likely to be incarcerated.”
The Trump bill allows any parents of children under 18 with Social Security numbers to open the accounts, which are tax-advantaged, starting on July 4, 2026.
“We want to help the children that weren’t part of the government program,” Dell said.
Invest America, run by hedge fund manager Brad Gerstner, advocated for the accounts to be included in Trump's bill, and it fits his agenda of encouraging investment and combatting poverty among families.
Dell Technologies has said it will match the $1,000 seed money in Trump accounts for new employees of the company.
“It would have been impractical, or maybe even impossible, to impact this many kids in this way without such a program,” Dell said.
Withdrawals fromt the accounts are not allowed until the child is 18, at which point it rolls over into an IRA and withdrawals are taxed.
Some states' versions of 529 plans have more tax advantages than the Trump accounts, but Trump is looking beyond funding college educations.
Michael Dell is hopeful that other companies will join him in funding the Trump accounts.
“What we hope is that every child sees a future worth saving for it,” he said. “You think about the compounding effect of a program like this in 10, 20, 30 years on millions of children. That’s what gets us excited.”
