Michael and Susan Dell Pledge $6.25 Billion to Seed Trump Accounts for 25 Million Children

Michael and Susan Dell said on December 2, 2025 that they will commit $6.25 billion to seed Trump Accounts for about 25 million American children, CNBC reported. Invest America, the nonprofit partnered with the couple, called it the largest gift ever devoted to U.S. children. The pledge arrived the same day Treasury released its first rules for the accounts, and it offers an early template for how large family philanthropy may use them.

What the Dells promised

The couple will deposit $250 into the accounts of children aged 10 and under who were born before January 1, 2025, and who therefore miss the federal $1,000 pilot deposit reserved for children born from 2025 through 2028. The money is aimed at children living in ZIP codes with a median income of $150,000 or less. According to CNBC, parents only need to open an account for the child to receive the Dell deposit. Dell Technologies separately said it will match the $1,000 Treasury deposit for new children of its employees.

NPR noted the scale problem: spread across 25 million children, even a multibillion-dollar gift works out to roughly $250 each. Supporters argue the seed money is meant to prompt families, employers and others to add their own contributions.

How the giving route works

The tax law behind Trump Accounts created a channel called the qualified general contribution. Under Notice 2025-68, a state or local government, the federal government, a tribal government or a 501(c)(3) charity can make a general funding contribution for a defined class of children. Treasury then deposits an equal share into each account in that class: the total gift divided by the number of children in the group.

Two features stand out for donors. First, qualified general contributions do not count toward the $5,000 annual cap that applies to money from parents, relatives and employers, so a philanthropic deposit does not crowd out what a family can add. Second, these deposits create no tax basis in the account. The child will eventually owe ordinary income tax on the gift and its growth when withdrawing it, which is the price of receiving money that was never taxed to the family.

The after-tax math

Example: a family foundation sets aside $10 million for every child in a county with 40,000 eligible children. Under the per-capita formula, each account receives $250. None of that uses up a family's $5,000 cap, and none of it requires the foundation to find or contact individual parents.

Compare a grandparent writing checks directly. A $5,000 contribution to one grandchild's account fills that child's entire annual cap. It is a gift to the child, well inside the $19,000 per-recipient annual gift tax exclusion for 2026 set by the IRS inflation adjustments. Unlike the foundation route, that money creates basis, so the $5,000 itself comes back tax-free.

Moves to discuss with your advisor

Families with private foundations or donor-advised arrangements may want to explore whether a class-based deposit fits their mission, and how the IRS will define eligible classes in forthcoming regulations. Donors who prefer to help specific children, such as their own grandchildren, often find direct contributions simpler, subject to the annual cap. It is worth asking a CPA how any gift to a charity that then funds accounts would be treated under the charitable deduction rules that tighten for top earners starting in 2026.

What to watch

Accounts cannot receive money until July 4, 2026, so the Dell deposits will not land before then. Treasury still has to publish regulations covering how general funding contributions are administered. Michael Dell told CNBC he has spoken with other major philanthropists, and additional pledges would test how smoothly the per-capita system handles overlapping gifts to the same children.

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