Elon Musk on August 13, 2021 at a press event on the Tesla Gigafactory site near Berlin. Patrick Pleul/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Elon Musk says he doesn’t seek recognition for monetary donations.
He says that makes philanthropy a challenge: “It’s very difficult to give away money effectively.”
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is the richest person in the world with a net worth of around $260 billion.
Elon Musk is the richest person alive, but he says it’s still hard to give away money to do good.
“When it comes to donations, I would say it’s very difficult to give away money effectively,” Musk said in a recent conversation with Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Insider parent company Axel Springer.
When asked about the goals of his foundation, Musk said he cares more about the results than the visuals of philanthropy. That makes it harder for him to “effectively” give away money.
“If you’re concerned with the reality of doing good and not the perception of doing good, then it’s very difficult to give away money effectively,” he said. “I care about reality. Perception be damned.”
Despite what he described as challenging philanthropic endeavors, Musk said, “I’m always looking for ways to give away money that are effective,” he continued.
The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla brought up a number of social causes during the call.
“There’s obviously environmental causes, there’s education, especially science and technology education,” he said. “Child health. Hunger is more of a political and logistical problem these days than a lack of food. There is plenty of food. In the US and many other countries, the problem is more obesity than hunger.”
Musk also addressed the positive change he hopes to see from SpaceX and Tesla.
“I want to emphasize that SpaceX and Tesla fundamentally intend to improve the quality of the future,” he said. “Especially in terms of benefit to humanity. Tesla by accelerating sustainable energy. And SpaceX by enabling multiplanetary travel. That’s more than I can do myself.”
The story goes on
Musk is one of the richest people in human history with a net worth of around $260 billion. When asked how he felt about it, Musk said he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is “significantly richer than me.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Musk also spoke about Putin and Russia’s months-long invasion of Ukraine, saying, “We cannot allow Putin to take over Ukraine.”
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