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The architect of Trump Accounts wants the program expanded to every American under 40

21 October 2026 at 16:02
Brad Gerstner in a dark suit and tie stands in focus beside another suited person indoors.
Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital, wants Trump Accounts expanded to Americans under 40.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

  • Investor Brad Gerstner wants Trump Accounts expanded to every US citizen under 40.
  • The plan would create early IRAs that employers and donors could fund.
  • Gerstner, regarded as the architect of Trump Accounts, said the change would require new legislation.

Brad Gerstner, the investor and architect of Trump Accounts, is pushing to expand the investment accounts beyond children and make them available to every US citizen under 40.

In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Gerstner said the change would require new legislation rather than a regulatory rule change.

Trump Accounts are tax-advantaged investment accounts created under President Donald Trump’s tax-and-spending law. Right now, they are available to Americans under 18, while children born between 2025 and 2028 are eligible for a $1,000 federal seed contribution.

When account holders turn 18, the accounts become traditional individual retirement accounts, or IRAs.

"Every year, 3.7 million kids age up into IRAs," Gerstner said. "Why not pull forward 20 years of IRAs? We can create all of those today, everybody under 40."

Gerstner's idea would create the accounts for adults under 40 without necessarily requiring the government to make an upfront deposit. Instead, he said, it would give employers, philanthropists and companies a ready-made vehicle through which to contribute.

That structure could allow companies or private citizens to contribute to accounts, he said, creating a "vessel" for the funding.

On Monday, Elon Musk said he planned to give one share of SpaceX stock to every American child through Trump Accounts. Giving a share to the roughly 72 million children in the US would be worth around $11.5 billion, based on SpaceX's share price in Wednesday trading.

Other major donors, including Michael and Susan Dell, Ray Dalio, and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, have also backed the initiative.

Gerstner pointed out there has already been innovation in the investment field, mentioning the federal Saver's Match, created under the bipartisan SECURE 2.0 law, which is scheduled to begin in 2027.

The program will provide a federal match of up to $1,000 a year for eligible low- and middle-income workers who contribute to qualifying retirement accounts.

In comments to the New York Post, Gerstner said he was working on the legislation to make Trump Accounts available to anyone under 40, potentially within months. The proposal could also make account funding permanent.

The proposal's prospects in Congress, including its cost and whether lawmakers would support new matching funds, remain unclear.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt broke down how he sees AI agents changing C-suite jobs

21 October 2026 at 14:14
A suited speaker points toward the audience while seated onstage before a blue digital backdrop.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said AI could make companies flatter by taking over some planning and coordination work.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

  • AI is changing how executives oversee their companies, Eric Schmidt said on the "In Good Company" podcast.
  • Google's former CEO described several ways execs he knows use AI agents to manage staff.
  • He described one company that uses AI assistants to ensure that staff are following its core values.

Eric Schmidt thinks the CEO of the future will have an AI assistant that can see across the entire company. For employees whose job is to keep a sprawling business coordinated, that could be bad news.

In an episode of the "In Good Company" podcast, the former Google chief executive described assistants that check whether company activity aligns with a leader's values, follow up on projects, and help identify ways to increase profits.

He argued that the technology could make businesses faster and flatter, with fewer people needed to plan, relay information, and move numbers around.

Schmidt sees little time for companies to adjust. He said competition in AI is fiercer than the PC-versus-Mac or Android-versus-iPhone battles: a model can take roughly six months to build, another two to test, and then be overtaken within five months of release.

"Time compresses every cycle," he said.

He also rejected the idea that AI is a bubble, pointing to Anthropic's rapid revenue growth. Schmidt said the company had grown faster than a record set during his time at Google, calling it "real money with real customers."

The changes he envisions are already visible in smaller experiments, he said. Schmidt gave the example of two founders he knows who ask an AI assistant every Friday to flag anything happening at their company that conflicts with their values.

Another executive created an AI version of himself that checks on an employee's progress, gives him instructions, and responds when he needs help, Schmidt said. That exchange sounded potentially abusive and worried him, he added, though he also saw how it sped up the executive's decisions.

Schmidt said his days as CEO were consumed by meetings, 12 hours a day, five days a week, as he listened to people explain projects and decisions. He thinks AI platforms can eliminate much of that "coordination tax": the effort of gathering updates, passing them upward, and keeping teams aligned.

For a company with 10,000 employees, Schmidt guessed AI could leave "a couple of thousand people who you don’t need."

He cited a friend whose fast-growing company cut 20% of its staff, including the "glue people" who handled planning and coordination. The friend later told Schmidt he had received death threats over the cuts.

Schmidt said companies would still need people who build products, make sales, speak with regulators, and lead teams. His advice to workers whose roles were disappearing was that executives should transition them "legally and humanely."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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