Elon Musk says he will sell Tesla’s Stock and donate it to United Nations’ food agency if it could show how his money would solve world hunger.
Elon Reeve Musk, 50, is an entrepreneur and business magnate. He is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Inc. He was also declared to be the richest person in the world as of November 2021 with a net worth of $304.5 billion.
The billionaire’s statement came after UN World Food Programme Executive Director David Beasley challenged Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and other billionaires in a CNN interview last week, calling on them to step up to help end starvation.
Beasley said a “one-time” donation from the top 400 billionaires in the US could help save the lives of 42 million people this year.
“The governments are tapped out,” Beasley said. “This is why and this is when … the billionaires need to step up now on a one-time basis, $6 billion to help 42 million people that are literally going to die if we don’t reach them. It’s not complicated.”
“What if it was your daughter starving to death?” Beasley said, specifically calling on Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Musk. “What if it was your family starving to death? Just, wake up, smell the coffee, and help.”
That money would be approximately 2% of Musk’s fortune, nearly $300 billion, according to Forbes. His wealth and the wealth of many American multi-billionaires has grown quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to increased stock and home equity, even more than before the virus struck.
On Twitter, Dr Beasley pointed out that “2% of @elonmusk’s wealth is $6B” and “in 2020, the UN World Food Program (WFP) raised $8.4B,” he then asks: “How come it didn’t “solve world hunger?”
The SpaceX founder posted Sunday on Twitter: “If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it. But it must be open source accounting, so the public sees precisely how the money is spent.”
Beasley later replied to the thread, clarifying his stance: “Headline not accurate. $6B will not solve world hunger, but it WILL prevent geopolitical instability, mass migration and save 42 million people on the brink of starvation. An unprecedented crisis and a perfect storm due to Covid/conflict/climate crises.”
“With your help, we can bring hope, build stability and change the future,” Beasley added. “Let’s talk: It isn’t as complicated as Falcon Heavy, but too much at stake to not at least have a conversation. I can be on the next flight to you. Throw me out if you don’t like what you hear!”
He also reassured the billionaire that the UN has “systems in place for transparency and open source accounting.”
“Your team can review and work with us to be totally confident of such,” Beasley said.
Musk then replied requesting Beasley to publish his organization’s current and proposed spending “in detail so people can see exactly where the money goes.” And added that “sunlight is a wonderful thing.”
Beasley tweeted again at Musk asking for his help on Monday saying: “Instead of tweets, allow me to show you. We can meet anywhere – Earth or space – but I suggest in the field where you can see (World Food Programme)’s people, processes and yes, technology, at work. I will bring the plan, and open books.”
In a separate tweet, Musk shared a link to a 2015 report alleging that UN peacekeepers were sexually abusing children in the Central African Republic in 2014, adding the comment: “What happened here?”
Just on Monday, (October 25th) Musk added more than $36 billion to his fortune in a single day when the Tesla share price spiked 12.7 percent as a result of car rental company Hertz ordering 100,000 cars, Bloomberg reported.
He is now worth $311 billion and as the world’s richest man, he is now almost $100 billion ahead of the former number one billionaire Jeff Bezos who is currently worth $199 billion as of November 1, according to Forbes.
If Musk were to sell $6 billion worth of Tesla shares to make a donation, it would be the largest known charitable contribution he has ever made.
Experts recently predicted Musk would be the world’s first trillionaire but said the fortune would come from his SpaceX venture, rather than Tesla.