Elon Musk gave $5.7 billion charity final 12 months. The place the cash went was a thriller—till now

The Musk Basis held $9.4 billion in property on the finish of 2021, in response to a tax submitting obtained by Bloomberg Information. It despatched about $160 million to nonprofits final 12 months, by far essentially the most the world’s richest individual has donated from his group in a calendar 12 months. 

The billionaire’s largest present throughout the interval was $55 million to the Memphis-based St Jude Kids’s Analysis Hospital, adopted by $54 million to the X Prize Basis, which he partnered with in 2021 to create a prize for carbon removing initiatives. 

Different donations listed within the tax kind present Musk following by means of on guarantees to highschool districts and nonprofits within the space round Brownsville, Texas, close to his SpaceX spaceport in Boca Chica, Texas. 

Musk, 51, has a private fortune of $167.6 billion, in response to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He relocated his companies, together with Tesla, from California to Texas throughout the pandemic, additionally shifting his charitable basis. 

The inspiration’s tax varieties record Musk, his right-hand man Jared Birchall and Matilda Simon as administrators. There are not any different staff listed within the submitting. 

The most important basis within the US is the Invoice and Melinda Gates Basis, which had property of just about $55 billion on the finish of 2021. It gave out about $6.2 billion in grants final 12 months, in response to a spokesperson.

Political spat

Musk despatched $5.7 billion of Tesla shares to charity in November 2021 as he sparred with politicians together with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over inequality and a proposed wealth tax. He by no means stated the place the cash had finally gone.

A big present to charity would have helped scale back what Musk has described as the most important tax invoice in US historical past. Days earlier than he accomplished a sequence of inventory gross sales value greater than $16 billion — a lot of which was to cowl the train of just about 23 million choices — the Tesla CEO tweeted he would pay greater than $11 billion in taxes for the 12 months.

Earlier this 12 months, a number of grant recipients stated their major level of contact on the basis was Igor Kurganov, knowledgeable poker player-turned-philanthropist who’s lively within the efficient altruism area.

There are few apparent indicators that efficient altruism, a philosophical motion that tries to have the best affect by rigorously spending cash to resolve issues, has impacted Musk’s giving. The trigger was closely promoted by Sam Bankman-Fried, whose crypto trade FTX declared chapter final month. 

The Musk Basis despatched $4 million to the Way forward for Life Institute, which focuses on lowering the dangers of synthetic intelligence and biotechnology, each of that are high priorities for efficient altruists. Musk is an adviser on the nonprofit, alongside Morgan Freeman.