A viral post says Elon Musk gave $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to charity in 2021, in one of the largest gifts ever. The gift is real. But the story has more to it: where the money went, and what has happened to it since.
A February 2022 SEC filing showed Musk donated more than five million Tesla shares between November 19 and 29, 2021, worth about $5.7 billion, Bloomberg reported. The filing did not name the charity. The Chronicle of Philanthropy said the gift would have made him the second-largest donor of 2021, behind Bill and Melinda French Gates, who pledged $15 billion to their foundation, Fortune reported.
It was not a world record, despite what some posts claim. Snopes found no credible authority that recognized it as one, and noted that larger donations exist.
Where the money went
Bloomberg reported in December 2022 that the shares went to the Musk Foundation, his own private foundation, which held $9.4 billion in assets at the end of 2021. The gift came as Musk sold more than $16 billion of Tesla stock and said he faced a tax bill of more than $11 billion, Fortune reported.
The foundation gave away a record $474 million in 2024, with most going to entities Musk controls, Bloomberg reported. About $370 million went to a nonprofit that runs a school near his businesses in Texas, and $35 million went to a donor-advised fund. Forbes put the foundation’s assets at about $14.7 billion.
US private foundations must give away at least 5% of their assets each year. An analysis of the Musk Foundation’s 2024 tax filing found it fell short for the fourth straight year, by nearly $400 million, Yahoo Finance reported. In past years it made up the difference the following year instead of paying a penalty. Forbes’ profile of Musk gives him a philanthropy score of 1 out of 5.
