Bloomberg reported that Elon Musk gave $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to his charity foundation last year. The gift came to light earlier this year, but Musk did not name the organization that received the money.
According to Bloomberg, the Elon Musk Foundation will distribute approximately $160 million to nonprofits in 2021. Elon Musk’s $5.7 billion mystery donation in 2021 went to the Musk Foundation, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Earlier this year, it was revealed through a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the billionaire had given away over 5 million Tesla shares due in November 2021. Elon Musk donated after outlining the United Nations World Food Program. , How Musk’s $6 billion fortune could help fight world hunger came to light, but the filing at the time did not name the charity that received Elon Musk’s gift.
As of the end of last year, the Elon Musk Foundation had assets of about $9.4 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing tax filings obtained by the publication.
Elon Musk did not respond to a request for comment from Insider prior to publication. According to Bloomberg, the foundation distributed nearly $160 million last year, the highest ever. The charity gifted $55 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and $54 million to the X Prize Foundation.
Separately, Elon Musk pledged $50 million to SpaceX’s fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital last year and partnered with the X Prize in a $100 million award for carbon removal projects.
The publication reported that other donations from the Musk Foundation are focused on nonprofit and school charities in the areas surrounding SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. The Musk Foundation also made a $4 million gift to the Future of Life Institute, a non-profit organization focused on existential risks facing humanity, including artificial intelligence, an issue over which Elon Musk has expressed concern in the past.
According to Bloomberg, the billionaire’s charity has only three employees listed on its tax forms: Musk, righthand man Jared Birchell and Matilda Simon. However, the publication reported that several grant recipients said former professional poker player Igor Kurganov was their main point of contact at the Elon Musk Foundation.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that Kurganov had become Musk’s top advisor during the pandemic and suggested using effective philanthropy as a strategy for the billionaire to give away his wealth.
It’s a strategy heavily promoted by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested by US authorities this week and charged with fraud. The Tesla CEO started the Musk Foundation in 2002 with his brother Kimbal Musk. The organization has donated to anything from solar power systems to space exploration, pediatrics and education, as well as artificial intelligence, according to its website.
In 2012 Elon Musk also committed to The Giving Pledge, a campaign launched by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage billionaires to contribute most of their fortunes to philanthropy.