# Baker favors giving people shares over foundation grants

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/baker-favors-giving-people-shares-over-foundation-grants/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Gavin Baker](https://realalpha.app/people/gavin-baker/) · Gavin Baker is managing partner of Atreides Management. · Runs the Atreides Management investment firm, a technology investor and former Fidelity OTC Fund portfolio manager.
- Host: [John Coogan](https://realalpha.app/people/john-coogan/) · Co-host, TBPN · Co-founded Soylent and Lucy; OpenAI bought his show TBPN in April 2026.
- Host: [Jordi Hays](https://realalpha.app/people/jordi-hays/) · Co-host, TBPN · Founded Branded Native; co-founded fintech Capital, which Rho bought.
- Show: TBPN
- Episode: [Gavin Baker on Anthropic's S-1, GPU Prices, and SpaceX](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/), Oct 27, 2026
- Moment: 38:51 to 41:12 of the episode (2 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/baker-favors-giving-people-shares-over-foundation-grants/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2331

## Quote

> “I think that's **way better for America** than setting up some foundation”
> — [Gavin Baker](https://realalpha.app/people/gavin-baker/) at [40:03](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2403) · TBPN

## Takeaways

1. Baker sees broad share ownership as a way to widen participation.
2. He prefers direct shares over foundation-managed distributions.
3. He cites Musk, Michael Dell and Brad Kirschner as examples.

## About this segment

Gavin Baker argues that giving people shares lets them decide what to do with the value, rather than routing it through a foundation. He sees direct ownership as a way to broaden participation in capitalism.

From “Gavin Baker on Anthropic's S-1, GPU Prices, and SpaceX”, Oct 27, 2026. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/)

## Transcript

From the transcript TBPN publishes with the episode.

[38:54](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2334) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm I'm very interested to see how Anthropic and Open I... OpenAI becoming public companies like impacts like overall sentiment specifically on x. Because right now, you have such a small number of people that actually hold shares in these companies. Oh, Right? And so like, maybe there's 50,000 people that have some incentive to be relatively optimistic. One, you know, or you know, you should be able to see both the the bull case and the bear case for for any company. But when that changes and you have millions of people globally that suddenly can have exposure, how does sentiment change?

[39:33](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2373) Right? And I think I think people are gonna be... I I think it will be less... Much less extreme once you have the the the sort of middle of the road investor has some exposure. Right? It's not like totally binary, where like very very small number of people have exposure. Like... And and and it's direct exposure. Right? Because if you happen to own Yeah. Shares through some retirement fund or through a hyperscaler or things like that, it...

[39:59](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2399) And maybe and maybe some of them will do what Elon did, you know? Every child in America is gonna have a share of SpaceX. Sure. That's awesome. I think that's way better for America than setting up some foundation Yeah. That, you know, a board or a bunch of bureaucrats are gonna decide how to allocate the money. Yeah. You know, just give people the money. Yeah. Like, I hope, like That's simple. Yeah.

[40:20](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2420) Let people make individual decisions. Yeah. And, you know, I would, you know, I would encourage more company and more, you know, more wealthy people in America to do what Elon and Michael Dell and and, of course, you know, my friend Brad Kirschner Yeah. Have done. That's great. That's awesome for America and great for capitalism.

[40:38](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2438) Yeah. And it's... It feels so important that that infrastructure got built before the big liquidity wave, before SpaceX goes public so that it's there, it's and been tested and it's been implemented and rolled out so that anyone who wants to participate in that can actually go and, like, take advantage of it without needing to, you know, say, oh, it'd be nice if the government had a program that would let let me give shares directly to the American populace. Like, nope. It's there.

[41:03](https://realalpha.app/v/crdg4X5BZPc/?t=2463) It works. It's up to date. Like, it's in the App Store. You can go download it. Yeah. Just give give people the money. Yeah. Give everybody stake in capitalism.