Elon Musk has answered the question so many people have been asking since he agreed to spend $44 billion on Twitter: why not use that money for charity?
The SpaceX CEO reached an agreement with Twitter bosses last month after putting a surprise bid on the popular platform, saying at the time he wanted to make Twitter 'better than ever'.
The move caused controversy with a lot of Twitter users who didn't like the idea of Musk taking ownership, and many people argued there were much better things Musk could have spent tens of billions of dollars on.
Advert
One critic commented: "Musk could easily help people using $44 billion. Instead he bought Twitter. He could easily save dozens of lives by donating some of that money to charity, or to help solve world hunger. But nope, he bought Twitter for funsies. I’m not a fan of Elon Musk. Not in the slightest."
In the wake of the criticism, Entertainment Tonight decided to broach the topic with Musk when he appeared on the red carpet for New York's Met Gala last night (2 May), asking why he didn't use the money for charity, philanthropy, or to do 'more good'.
He responded: "Well I do do a lot of things philanthropically and really my companies are intended to do good for the future of humanity."
Hear Musk discuss the matter below:
Musk pointed to his companies Tesla and SpaceX, noting the former aims to 'accelerate the advent of sustainable transport and energy' while the latter is 'providing internet to the least served people around the world'.
Advert
He also cited his work in Ukraine, where he has sent Starlink terminals to help keep the country connected amid its ongoing war with Russia.
"Aspirationally I am trying to do good for humanity and the future of civilisation," he continued.
The Tesla co-founder has an estimated net worth of $264.6 billion, though much of his money is invested in stocks.
Following his agreement to buy Twitter, Musk revealed he had sold $8.5bn worth of stock, and he has also pledged some of his Tesla shares to banks to arrange a $12.5bn margin loan to help cover the cost of the agreement.
Sources cited by Reuters have claimed Musk is also in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals to discuss more financing and allow him to use less of his own wealth in the takeover, though he is not looking to take on more debt in order to make the deal happen.
Emily Brown