Michael Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, plan to give away billions of dollars to fund investment accounts for children in the United States --- It’s a different approach to philanthropy. While most large donations go to universities or big nonprofit groups, the Dells hope to give more directly
A new kind of donation
Michael Dell remembers watching the quarters and dollars he put into a passbook savings account as a young child grow through the power of compound interest. It was a lesson that helped set him on a path to becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the United States.
A half-century later, Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, are worth an estimated $150 billion, and they want children around the country to have a similar experience. This morning, they announced that they planned to give $250 to roughly 25 million children through the so-called Trump accounts created in this year’s tax bill, Nicholas Kulish reports. The total amount will be $6.25 billion, one of the largest gifts ever to go directly to Americans.
Some background: This year’s tax bill created a new type of investment account for children that allows deposits (with certain limits) to grow tax-free. The bill called for the government to give $1,000 each to babies born from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2028, to seed their accounts.
The Dells’ pledge applies to older children, born in 2016 through 2024, who live in ZIP codes where median household incomes are below $150,000 per year. They are working with the Treasury Department to deposit the money into the new individual investment accounts, which they hope the recipients will use to help pay for college or trade school, to start a business, or to put a down payment on a house.
Many details have yet to be determined, but here’s what we know so far.
It’s a different approach to philanthropy. While most large donations go to universities or big nonprofit groups, the Dells hope to give more directly.
“There’s been lots of studies that show that even relatively modest sums, with accounts like this, children are more likely to graduate from high school and college, they’re more likely to buy a home, to start a business,” Michael Dell said in an interview.
Will others follow? The Dells said that they believed that their donation would encourage others to contribute to the accounts. “Our philanthropy work is the most important work that we do, period,” Susan Dell said
Pete Stubben, a former pit trader in the Wall Street commodity markets, founded a new Queens and Brooklyn Republican club — The Rockaway Republicans — during the Bush administration. The club aimed to bring balance to local politics and help elect Republicans to the New York City Council and the New York State Legislature. Stubben also wrote a monthly column for the local community newspaper, The Rockaway Wave.
Seven years ago, he relocated to the beautiful, scenic, and historic town of Silver City in Southwest New Mexico.
