OFF THE MARK

Elon Musk’s Charity Often Benefits Elon Musk and Associates: Report

A New York Times report found that much of Musk’s charitable funds stay “close to home.”

Elon Musk’s charity may bear his name, but it can’t seem to match his penchant for high-dollar spending. According to a New York Times analysis of his charity’s giving in 2022, the Musk Foundation gave out just $160 million in grants—a whopping $234 million less than the five-percent legal minimum it needed to distribute between 2021 and 2022. It was the fourth-largest shortfall of any U.S. charity in 2022, the last year for which records are available. The revelation was one of multiple in the Times’ report on Musk’s charitable giving, which has often benefited his own associates or those of his companies. Musk reportedly filled some of the foundation’s coffers by donating Tesla stock, which he is allowed to claim as a tax deduction. Not all of the charity’s donations have benefited his own interests, however: The foundation donated more than $1 million to schools in Flint, Michigan, and a charity aimed at helping children there. But where that foundation donates is still up to him and the foundation’s board—which includes just him and two other volunteers.