CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Since 2020, he has seeded his charity with tax-deductible donations of stock worth more than $7 billion at the time, making it one of the largest in the Unites States
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Photo: Bloomberg | Elon MuskNYT
Mar 10 2024 |
By David A Fahrenthold & Ryan Mac
Before March 2021, Elon Musk’s charitable foundation had never announced any donations to Cameron County, an impoverished region at the southern tip of Texas that is home to his SpaceX launch site and local officials who help regulate it.
Then, at 8:05 one morning that month, a SpaceX rocket blew up, showering the area with a rain of twisted metal. The Musk Foundation began giving at 9:27 am local time.
“Am donating $20M to Cameron County schools & $10M to City of Brownsville for downtown revitalization,” Musk said on Twitter.
Musk, the world’s second-richest person according to Forbes, presides over SpaceX, Tesla and other companies that are pushing the boundaries of technology, while also controlling X, through which he promotes his often-polarizing political and social views.
ALSO READ: Tesla CEO Musk meets with Trump as former president seeks 2024 donors
“Am donating $20M to Cameron County schools & $10M to City of Brownsville for downtown revitalization,” Musk said on Twitter.
Musk, the world’s second-richest person according to Forbes, presides over SpaceX, Tesla and other companies that are pushing the boundaries of technology, while also controlling X, through which he promotes his often-polarizing political and social views.
ALSO READ: Tesla CEO Musk meets with Trump as former president seeks 2024 donors
At the same time, he runs a charity with billions of dollars, the kind of resources that could make a global impact. But unlike Bill Gates, who has deployed his fortune in an effort to improve health care across Africa, or Walmart’s Walton family, which has spurred change in the American education system, Musk’s philanthropy has been largely self-serving — making him eligible for enormous tax breaks and helping his businesses.
Since 2020, he has seeded his charity with tax-deductible donations of stock worth more than $7 billion at the time, making it one of the largest in the country.
Musk has not hired any staff for his foundation. Its billions are handled by a board that consists of himself and two volunteers, one of whom reports putting in so little time that it averages out to six minutes per week. In 2022, the last year for which records are available, they gave away $160 million, which was $234 million less than the law required — the fourth-largest shortfall of any foundation in the country.
Musk is under no obligation to have a charity, and he has made clear that he believes his for-profit enterprises will change the world for the better far more than any philanthropic venture could. But once he set up a nonprofit and filled it with tax-deductible gifts, he was required by law to ensure that his foundation served the public, and that it did not operate for the “private benefit” of its leader.
A New York Times analysis found that, of the Musk Foundation’s giving in 2021 and 2022, about half of the donations had some link to Musk, one of his employees or one of his businesses. Among the donations the Musk Foundation has made, there was $55 million to help a major SpaceX customer meet a charitable pledge. There were the millions that went to Cameron County, Texas, after the rocket blew up. And there were donations to two schools closely tied to his businesses: one walled off inside a SpaceX compound, the other located next to a new subdivision for Musk’s employees. “The really striking thing about Musk is the disjuncture between his outsized public persona, and his very, very minimal philanthropic presence,” said Benjamin Soskis, who studies philanthropy at the Urban Institute. Musk did not respond to requests for comment.
Elon Musk's $7Billion charity has no employees and has failed to give away enough money to qualify for tax breaks putting it a risk of massive IRS fines
The Musk Foundation has donated less than half of the minimum needed to avoid multi-million dollar fines, giving away just $160 million of its $7 billion wealth
Musk avoided a $2B tax bill by gifting his charity $5.7B in Tesla shares in 2021
By DOMINIC YEATMAN
10 March 2024
The giant charity established by tech titan Elon Musk could land him with a multi-million dollar fine because it has donated so little of its vast wealth.
The world's second-richest man has escaped billions in tax by gifting Tesla stock to the Musk Foundation which he set up in 2001.
But it gave away less than half of what it needed to for Musk to qualify for the tax break in 2022, and much of that went to employees, businesses and projects that he is personally associated with.
The billionaire SpaceX boss is one of just three people who run the foundation, one of whom reports devoting just six minutes a week to the task.
'The really striking thing about Musk is the disjuncture between his outsized public persona, and his very, very minimal philanthropic presence,' charity expert Benjamin Soskis told the New York Times.
Musk has created one of the world's largest charities with more than $7 billion in donations since 2020 alone.
But charities are required to give away at least five per cent of their assets each year to qualify for tax exemptions, but Musk's foundation barely managed two per cent in 2022, the last year for which records are available.
One of its favorite causes is Musk's non-profit school project called Ad Astra which he founded in Bel-Air Los Angeles in 2014, with five of his own children among the first 14 pupils.
Now centered on the SpaceX campus in Boca Chica, Texas, it caters to 250 students, but former SpaceX executives told the paper it is nearly impossible for lower-ranking employees to gain admission for their children.
The South African-born billionaire has done little to promote his charity and has insisted that it is his for-profit firms such as Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X which will do most to change the world for the better.
'Tesla has done more to help the environment than all other companies combined,' he said last year.
'As a leader of the company, I've done more for the environment than any single human on earth.'
'It's not his checkbook,' she said, 'It's not a private, family-owned company. It's a charitable organization.'
The charity fell $234 million short of the donations required by tax law between 2021 and 2022, leaving it liable to a fine amounting to 30 percent of that total, if it has not made up the shortfall in the meantime.
'It tells you it's not yet ready for prime time,' said Professor Brian Galle who studies nonprofit law at Georgetown University.
'It's not yet a professional organization.'
The Musk Foundation has donated less than half of the minimum needed to avoid multi-million dollar fines, giving away just $160 million of its $7 billion wealth
Musk avoided a $2B tax bill by gifting his charity $5.7B in Tesla shares in 2021
By DOMINIC YEATMAN
10 March 2024
The giant charity established by tech titan Elon Musk could land him with a multi-million dollar fine because it has donated so little of its vast wealth.
The world's second-richest man has escaped billions in tax by gifting Tesla stock to the Musk Foundation which he set up in 2001.
But it gave away less than half of what it needed to for Musk to qualify for the tax break in 2022, and much of that went to employees, businesses and projects that he is personally associated with.
The billionaire SpaceX boss is one of just three people who run the foundation, one of whom reports devoting just six minutes a week to the task.
'The really striking thing about Musk is the disjuncture between his outsized public persona, and his very, very minimal philanthropic presence,' charity expert Benjamin Soskis told the New York Times.
Musk has created one of the world's largest charities with more than $7 billion in donations since 2020 alone.
But charities are required to give away at least five per cent of their assets each year to qualify for tax exemptions, but Musk's foundation barely managed two per cent in 2022, the last year for which records are available.
One of its favorite causes is Musk's non-profit school project called Ad Astra which he founded in Bel-Air Los Angeles in 2014, with five of his own children among the first 14 pupils.
Now centered on the SpaceX campus in Boca Chica, Texas, it caters to 250 students, but former SpaceX executives told the paper it is nearly impossible for lower-ranking employees to gain admission for their children.
The South African-born billionaire has done little to promote his charity and has insisted that it is his for-profit firms such as Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X which will do most to change the world for the better.
'Tesla has done more to help the environment than all other companies combined,' he said last year.
'As a leader of the company, I've done more for the environment than any single human on earth.'
'It's not his checkbook,' she said, 'It's not a private, family-owned company. It's a charitable organization.'
The charity fell $234 million short of the donations required by tax law between 2021 and 2022, leaving it liable to a fine amounting to 30 percent of that total, if it has not made up the shortfall in the meantime.
'It tells you it's not yet ready for prime time,' said Professor Brian Galle who studies nonprofit law at Georgetown University.
'It's not yet a professional organization.'
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