Check out the hilariously low-effort website for the Musk Foundation, where billions of Elon Musk's philanthropy money goes
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Kwan Wei Kevin Tan
Mar 12, 2024, 17:33 IST
Elon Musk.Omar Marques via Getty Images
Elon Musk's charity platform, the Musk Foundation, has come under scrutiny from The New York Times.
The Times reported that half of the foundation's donations had links to Musk or his businesses.
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Elon Musk may be best known for his entrepreneurial endeavors, but he also engages in philanthropy.
In 2002, the billionaire started his charity platform, the Musk Foundation, with his brother, Kimbal. In 2021, Musk donated $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to the foundation.
But its website appears sparse for an organization endowed with billions of dollars from Musk's fortune.
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The Musk Foundation's website is essentially just a white webpage with seven lines of text, with no graphics or videos. The site only lists the various causes the foundation supports, including renewable energy, space exploration, and artificial intelligence.
But the website's simple graphic design doesn't mean Musk isn't sending funds through the foundation. Bloomberg reported in December 2022 that the Musk Foundation donated $160 million to nonprofits in 2021, including $55 million to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The Times also reported that the Musk Foundation regularly fell short of the minimum required donations under tax laws, citing tax filings it had obtained.
The report said the Musk Foundation was managed by Musk and two volunteers and didn't have any staff on payroll.
Representatives for Musk didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
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