The largest foundation in the U.S. is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which had assets of almost $55 billion at the end of 2021. It gave out about $6.2 billion in grants last year, according to a spokesperson.
Political spat
Musk sent $5.7 billion of Tesla shares to charity in November 2021 as he sparred with politicians including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over inequality and a proposed wealth tax. He never said where the money had ultimately gone.
A large gift to charity would have helped reduce what Musk has described as the biggest tax bill in U.S. history. Days before he completed a series of stock sales worth more than $16 billion — much of which was to cover the exercise of almost 23 million options — the Tesla CEO tweeted he would pay more than $11 billion in taxes for the year.
Earlier this year, several grant recipients said their primary point of contact at the foundation was Igor Kurganov, a professional poker player-turned-philanthropist who is active in the effective altruism space.
There are few obvious signs that effective altruism, a philosophical movement that tries to have the greatest impact by carefully spending money to solve problems, has impacted Musk’s giving. The cause was heavily promoted by Sam Bankman-Fried, whose crypto exchange FTX declared bankruptcy last month.
The Musk Foundation sent $4 million to the Future of Life Institute, which focuses on reducing the risks of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, both of which are top priorities for effective altruists. Musk is an adviser at the nonprofit, alongside Morgan Freeman.
White House vs. Musk
In another political fight that emerged Monday, Musk’s public condemnation of top U.S. health official Anthony Fauci is “dangerous” and “disgusting,” and should be called out, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
“They are disgusting, and they are divorced from reality, and we will continue to call that out and be very clear about that,” Jean-Pierre said. She praised Fauci’s handling of public heath crises, including the coronavirus pandemic.
Musk over the weekend had tweeted: “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.” As the tweet went viral, Tesla replied to Musk’s own post, adding: “Truth resonates.”
Fauci, who said he planned to retire in December as President Joe Biden’s top medical adviser and top U.S. infectious disease official, has dealt with the thorny questions around health crises from HIV/AIDS to avian flu and Ebola.
The veteran immunologist has served as an adviser to seven U.S. presidents beginning with Republican Ronald Reagan and has had over 50 years of public service.
But it was his handling of COVID – and his blunt assessments from the White House podium that Americans needed to change their behavior in light of the pandemic – that made him a hero to public health advocates while serving under former President Donald Trump, a villain to some on the right and an unusual celebrity among bureaucratic officials used to toiling in obscurity.
The U.S. leads the world in recorded COVID-19 deaths with more than one million.
Fauci has said he has faced death threats. He endured criticism from Trump and from various conservatives who objected to government-mandated safeguards such as vaccination, social distancing and masking that he advocated to try to limit the lethality of the pandemic.
Republicans also threatened to probe Fauci if they got control of Congress in the midterm elections, in which they won control of the House of Representatives while the Democrats narrowly retained control of the Senate.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report.
