"The biggest challenge I find with my foundation is trying to give money away in a way that is truly beneficial to people," Elon Musk said in a recent podcast interview. "It's very easy to give money away to get the appearance of goodness. It is very difficult to give money away for the reality of goodness." The New York Times makes the case that his Musk Foundation isn't giving away much at all—and what it does give away doesn't go far. A review of the foundation's 2024 tax filing shows the charitable foundation has quietly grown into one of the largest in the US, with assets topping $14 billion; Bloomberg reports that's a 55% increase over 2023.
But as with the previous three years, it failed to meet the IRS rule that private foundations distribute at least 5% of their assets annually; that amount can be added onto the minimum for the next calendar year. Of the foundation's record $474 million in donations last year, more than three-quarters—$370 million—went to a Texas nonprofit run by Musk's top aide. That group operates a school near Musk's business hub in Bastrop, Texas, where a cluster of Musk-related companies are based and where many of his employees live.
Another $35 million went into a Fidelity donor-advised fund where the foundation retains influence. Bloomberg shares one of the quirkier gifts: $2.1 million to the Scroll Prize, a competition in which prize money is doled out to whoever can decode passages of the Herculaneum scrolls that were buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago.
The Times notes the foundation's operation remains small: three unpaid volunteers (Musk is one), including one aide who averages six minutes per week on foundation work. The group's website contains just a few lines of text and has not been updated in years.
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