Tesla CEO Elon Musk has offered to donate $6 billion in stock to end world hunger. However, the Associated Press is reporting that this donation comes with a catch. Musk will sell the stock if the United Nations' food agency shows where the money will go.
"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," the billionaire posted to Twitter on Sunday. He later said in a reply that the proof "must be open source accounting, so the public sees precisely how the money is spent."
This tweet comes in response to U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley stating to CNN that billionaires such as Musk could donate "$6 billion to help 42 million people that are literally going to die if we don't reach them."
Beasley responded to Musk's tweet, agreeing that the money won't solve the problem of world hunger. However, he said that "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." He also offered to meet with Musk to further discuss the topic.
Musk promptly fired back in a reply. "Please publish your current & proposed spending in detail so people can see exactly where money goes," he said. "Sunlight is a wonderful thing."
Although offered, a meeting between the two figures has not been confirmed.
Musk is estimated to be worth over $288.8 billion dollars, $36.2 billion which he gained last week after Hertz ordered 100,000 Teslas to add to its car fleet. The increase in Musk's fortune is the largest one-day gainer that the Bloomberg Billionaire Index has ever recorded.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Six billion dollars would be approximately 2 percent of Musk's fortune, which is 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.
In 2020, WFP received $8.4 billion in donations, which it says was $5.3 billion short of its requirements. Its top donors include the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Shortly after the Twitter thread ended, the official World Food Programme account tweeted out support for its director.
"A one-time donation from the top 400 billionaires in the U.S. could help save the lives of 42 million people this year," the tweet said. It included a recording of the CNN interview, concluding with a #FightFamine hashtag.
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