“The really striking thing about Musk is the confusion between his big public persona and his very, very minimal philanthropic presence,” said Benjamin Soskis, who studies philanthropy at the Urban Institute. Where other billionaires aim for a broad impact on society, Mr. Soskis said Mr. Musk’s foundation lacks “any direction or real focus, outside of his business ventures.”
Mr. Musk did not respond to requests for comment.
A school for his children
Mr. Musk and his younger brother, Kimball, started the Musk Foundation in 2001, a year before PayPal, the online payments company he co-founded, was sold to eBay for $1.5 billion. He made more than $175 million from the sale and will set up his namesake foundation with roughly $2 million worth of eBay stock.
The Musk Foundation’s website initially featured slick animations, with photos of satellite dishes and children in classrooms, while encouraging people to apply for grants. By 2005, however, it had disappeared, replaced by plain black text that said the foundation was interested in “science education, pediatric health and clean energy.”
No contact information is listed. He still doesn’t.
As of September 2014, Forbes estimated Mr. Musk’s net worth to be more than $10 billion, boosted by the value of his Tesla shares. But he gave little to his own charity. That year, according to tax returns, his foundation had $40,121 in the bank.
That matched Mr. Musk’s public stance on philanthropy. His for-profit companies, he said, were his way of changing the world.
