“The really striking thing about Musk is the disjuncture between his outsized public persona, and his very, very minimal philanthropic presence,” stated Benjamin Soskis, who research philanthropy on the Urban Institute. Where different billionaires have aimed for a broad impression on society, Mr. Soskis stated Mr. Musk’s basis lacks “any direction or any real focus, outside his business ventures.”
Mr. Musk didn’t reply to requests for remark.
A college for his kids
Mr. Musk and his youthful brother, Kimbal, began the Musk Foundation in 2001, a 12 months earlier than the sale of PayPal, the net funds firm he co-founded, to eBay for $1.5 billion. He made greater than $175 million within the sale, and would seed his namesake basis with about $2 million price of eBay shares.
The Musk Foundation’s web site initially included slick animations, that includes footage of satellite tv for pc dishes and kids in school rooms, whereas encouraging individuals to apply for grants. By 2005, nevertheless, it was cleaned, changed by plain black textual content stating that the muse was concerned about “science education, pediatric health and clean energy.”
It listed no contact info. It nonetheless doesn’t.
By September 2014, Forbes estimated that Mr. Musk’s internet price was greater than $10 billion, pushed up by the worth of his holdings of Tesla inventory. But he gave little to his personal charity. That 12 months, tax filings present, his basis had $40,121 within the financial institution.
That match with Mr. Musk’s public stance on philanthropy. His for-profit firms, he stated, had been his method of fixing the world.