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

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

The billionaire’s largest present through 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 high school 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 line with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He relocated his companies, together with Tesla, from California to Texas through the pandemic, additionally shifting his charitable basis. 

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

The biggest basis within the US is the Invoice and Melinda Gates Basis, which had belongings of virtually $55 billion on the finish of 2021. It gave out about $6.2 billion in grants final 12 months, in line with 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 in the end gone.

A big present to charity would have helped cut back what Musk has described as the most important tax invoice in US historical past. Days earlier than he accomplished a collection of inventory gross sales value greater than $16 billion — a lot of which was to cowl the train of virtually 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, an expert poker player-turned-philanthropist who’s lively within the efficient altruism house.

There are few apparent indicators that efficient altruism, a philosophical motion that tries to have the best influence by rigorously spending cash to unravel 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 decreasing 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. 

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