Elon Musk donates Tesla shares worth $112 million to charities that have “no current intention to …”

Why Elon Musk donated his shares

The shares, as stated in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), were donated as part of Musk’s “year-end tax planning” to “certain charities” that have “no current intention to sell such stock,” the filing showed. The charities that received the shares are not named, and they do not plan to sell them anytime soon, the filing stated.

Despite this donation, Musk, the world’s richest person with a net worth of over $415 billion (according to Bloomberg), still owns close to 411 million Tesla shares through a trust he set up in 2003. As of last year, Musk held about 13% of Tesla’s total shares, according to a company report from 2024.

Musk, who also leads companies like SpaceX and the social media platform X, was previously awarded 304 million Tesla stock options in 2018. However, this compensation package was twice rejected by a court in Delaware and is currently being contested by Tesla shareholders.

Judge rejects Elon Musk’s salary

Last year in December, a Delaware judge once again rejected Elon Musk’s record-breaking compensation package at Tesla. This means that Tesla CEO Musk is prevented from accessing a pay package whose potential value has soared along with Tesla’s stock price. “As of Monday, the pay package was worth $101.4 billion, according to Equilar, a compensation consulting firm,”.

Read more: World’s richest man is fighting for his salary, and he loses yet again

Last month, Musk became the first person in history to amass a net worth exceeding $500 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This milestone highlights his significant influence across various industries, including electric vehicles with Tesla, space exploration with SpaceX, and social media with his recent acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X.