Image: keystone
12/02/2025, 5:25 p.m12/02/2025, 5:34 p.m
US technology entrepreneur Michael Dell and his wife Susan want to give 25 million children in the US seed capital for new government-sponsored savings accounts. According to US media, the couple is providing a total of around 6.25 billion US dollars (almost 5.4 billion euros) for this. The money is intended to help more minors have so-called “Trump Accounts” – tax-advantaged investment accounts that the government wants to set up for children next year.
The plan so far was that newborns born between 2025 and 2028 would automatically receive $1,000 starting credit from the state. The investments are intended to give children long-term access to capital and are invested in index funds at least until they are 18 years old. With their donation, the Dells now want to make it possible for older children up to the age of ten to receive a starting credit of $250 – but only in regions with a median income under $150,000. A total of 25 million children are expected to benefit.
Children up to ten years of age should receive a starting credit of $250.Image: keystone
Details of the program are still open
The accounts themselves do not yet exist; the government plans to set them up in the summer. According to the New York Times, it is still unclear exactly how the allocation should be carried out organizationally. The US Treasury Department should identify suitable accounts and route the funds.
According to the law, employers should then be allowed to contribute up to $2,500 annually tax-free to the children of their employees. Several large companies – including Dell Technologies – have already announced that they will double the government’s one-off payment for newborns.
Philanthropic impetus for additional donors
According to Dell in the New York Times, the program attracted cross-party interest from both Democrats and Republicans, but it was only through President Trump that it made political progress. The proposal – renamed “Trump Accounts” – was included in the US government’s tax package passed this year.
Dell and investor Brad Gerstner, co-initiator of the children’s accounts, are now hoping for further large donations. To date, Michael and Susan Dell have donated a total of around $3 billion to education and children’s programs over the years. 60-year-old Michael Dell founded Dell Technologies in 1984 as a dorm student – the company became one of the leading computer and IT companies in the world. (sda/dpa)