In 2022, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, set a world record for the largest charitable donation by an automaker, donating an incredible $5.7 billion to global causes. The massive philanthropic gesture, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marked a watershed in tech philanthropy, surpassing donations from other billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
Musk’s donation focused on causes such as sustainability, education, and healthcare, aligning with his broader commitment to addressing pressing global challenges. As a leading technology philanthropist, Musk’s generosity underscores his vision of leveraging the wealth from electric vehicles and space exploration to create lasting positive change.
In 2021, Elon Musk donated $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to his foundation. At the time, this was the largest donation ever made by an automaker owner. The donation made the Musk Foundation one of the largest foundations in the United States.
The charity that received $5.7 billion worth of Tesla shares from Elon Musk at the end of 2021 was his own foundation, Bloomberg News reports.
The donation to the Musk Foundation immediately made it one of the largest foundations in the United States. According to a tax return obtained by Bloomberg, it had assets of $9.4 billion at the end of 2021. The return lists $160 million in donations from the foundation to nonprofit organizations last year, including $55 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, $54 million to the XPrize Foundation, and donations Musk publicly pledged to school districts and nonprofit organizations in the Brownsville, Texas, area near the SpaceX spaceport.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk has an estimated personal net worth of $167.6 billion. According to a list of the biggest charitable donors published last year by the Chronicle of Philanthropy , Musk’s donations made him the second-largest donor of 2021, behind the $15 billion donated by now-divorced Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates.
