Musk says it’s as a result of philanthropy is troublesome.
“I agree with love of humanity, and I think we should try to do things that help our fellow human beings,” he advised Nikhil Kamath for the WTF podcast in an episode revealed Sunday. “But it’s very hard.”
Musk, who’s on the trail to change into a trillionaire because of the approval of an historic pay bundle, says it’s “very difficult to give away money well.”
“The biggest challenge I find with my foundation is trying to give money away in a way that is truly beneficial to people,” he added. “It’s very easy to give money away to get the appearance of goodness. It is very difficult to give money away for the reality of goodness. Very difficult.”
Though he claimed “I don’t want my name on anything,” his eponymous Musk Basis was established in 2002. It largely helps lots of Musk’s personal private pursuits, like renewable vitality, human area exploration, pediatric analysis, and science and engineering training.
A 2024 investigation by The New York Occasions referred to as Musk’s philanthropy “haphazard and largely self-serving,” making him eligible for tax breaks and serving to his personal companies, like SpaceX.
The Occasions gave the instance of a $20 million donation to Cameron County colleges in Texas after a SpaceX ship had blown up there, in addition to $10 million to town of Brownsville for downtown revitalization. Between 2020 and 2024, Musk seeded the charity with tax-deductible inventory donations value greater than $7 billion on the time, in response to the report.
Representatives for Musk didn’t instantly reply to Fortune’s request for remark.
How Elon Musk’s giving type compares to different billionaires
Arguably the largest title in philanthropy this yr has been MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire novelist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Scott, who’s value about $34 billion, has donated greater than $19.25 billion since 2020—though her internet value continues to develop because of the ability of Amazon shares she acquired upon her divorce.
Scott has made a number of record-breaking donations this fall to HBCUs, catastrophe restoration organizations, and different education-related causes. Her philanthropic type is exclusive in that she sometimes makes unrestricted presents, which means recipients can use the funding nevertheless they select with none strings hooked up.
Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who’s retiring as Berkshire Hathaway CEO on the finish of this yr, introduced he made the selection to go away his three children $500 million a yr to disclose to proceed his legacy of giving. In complete, Buffett’s giving has reached greater than $60 billion, a lot of which has gone to the Gates Basis run by Microsoft founder Invoice Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates. Buffett had additionally beforehand signed The Giving Pledge to offer away the vast majority of his fortune—a promise many have made however few have adopted by way of on.
“Early on, I contemplated various grand philanthropic plans. Though I was stubborn, these did not prove feasible,” he wrote in a letter to shareholders launched final month. “During my many years, I’ve also watched ill-conceived wealth transfers by political hacks, dynastic choices and, yes, inept or quirky philanthropists.”
The Gates Basis additionally advised Fortune first this summer season it might shut down in 2045, and Invoice Gates would give away “virtually all my wealth” to the inspiration, which quantities to about $100 billion. At the moment, he’s value about $119 billion. As soon as the richest man on the earth, Gates’ internet value took a $52 billion hit this summer season after his donation announcement.
“People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them,” he wrote in a Could 8 observe. “There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people.”
