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The world\u2019s richest man<\/a>\u00a0is quiet about what he does with\u00a0his personal money<\/a>, as well as the billions in his charitable foundation.<\/p>\n Elon Musk<\/a>\u00a0is worth an estimated $450 billion, made from his companies\u00a0Tesla<\/a>, Neuralink,\u00a0SpaceX<\/a>\u00a0and others.<\/p>\n The Musk Foundation website says grants are made in support of renewable energy research, human space exploration, pediatric research,\u00a0science<\/a>\u00a0and engineering education, and safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity.<\/p>\n All of these initiatives align directly with Musk\u2019s for-profit businesses \u2013 a fact which has raised some eyebrows, the New York Times pointed out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And in an interview earlier this week, Musk said: \u2018It\u2019s 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.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018The biggest challenge I find with my foundation is trying to give money away in a way that is truly beneficial to people.<\/p>\n \u2018I have a large foundation, but I don\u2019t put my name on it,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n For the fourth year in a row, it\u2019s been revealed that the Musk Foundation hasn\u2019t given away the minimum amount required by law.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5% of a private foundation\u2019s assets must be given away each year. If that target is missed, they have to donate the amount during the next year.<\/p>\n Given Musk hasn\u2019t reached the minimum for the past four years, they have a lot of catching up to do.<\/p>\n Last year, the estimated $14billion\u00a0charity<\/a>\u00a0gave away $474 million. The\u00a0New York<\/a>\u00a0Times found that $370 million of that number was given to a nonprofit in Texas, which benefits Musk\u2019s businesses in Texas, operating an elementary\u00a0school<\/a>\u00a0near where many of his employees live.<\/p>\n The foundation itself is run by Musk and two volunteers, one of whom works only six minutes per week, tax filings found. The website has no contact information.<\/p>\n He has made some donations not tied to his businesses directly, however. After a SpaceX rocket blew up, he donated millions to Cameron County, Texas, to help rebuild.<\/p>\n Since creating the Musk Foundation in the early 2000s, donations have also been made to OpenAI (when it was a nonprofit), the Sierra Club, Oxfam and the Clinton Foundation.<\/p>\n Metro\u00a0<\/strong>has contacted Elon Musk\u2019s representatives and an email tied to the Musk Foundation for comment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Musk\u2019s contributions to charity are a drop in the bucket compared to others with his stature.<\/p>\n MacKenzie Scott, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos\u2019 ex-wife, has given away billions after her divorce from the magnate.<\/p>\n Her donations from her organisation, Yield Giving, have given $19billion to non-profits focused on diversity and inclusion, education and disaster recovery.<\/p>\n Bill Gates, another tech CEO, runs the Gates Foundation with his wife, Melinda. In the first 25 years of the foundation\u2019s existence, it gave more than $100 billion away.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Mr Gates announced that for the next two decades, he would give away the entirety of his wealth.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The world\u2019s richest man is worth an estimated $480 billion, an astounding figure which is hard to fathom.<\/p>\n As well as owning a string of companies, including\u00a0SpaceX<\/a>,\u00a0Tesla<\/a>\u00a0and now,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, Elon Musk made his money through a variety of other means, too.<\/p>\n After dropping out of his PhD in 1995, he and his younger brother joined forces to go into business together, where they built an internet city guide software company called Zip2.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite it being his first foray into business amid the internet boom, the pair\u2019s venture was bought by computer giant Compaq for $307 million (\u00a3243.2 million), while Elon received $22 million (\u00a317.4 million) from the deal.<\/p>\n After his departure from Confinity, Musk founded rocket-building company SpaceX in 2002. Despite admitting it was one of the \u2018dumbest and hardest ways to make money\u2019, the entrepreneur has continued to work on SpaceX and its missions.<\/p>\n Just two years after SpaceX was founded, Musk\u00a0invested in electric car powerhouse Tesla<\/a>, which was originally known as Tesla Motors.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/badvibes.live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SEI_274945885-e763-300x197.webp\")
<\/p>\nHow does Musk\u2019s charity compare to other billionaires?<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nHow much is Musk worth, and how did he make his money?<\/h2>\n
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