Feb 15, 2022 - Economy

Elon Musk donates $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to charity

Rebecca Falconer

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands at a press event on the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory in Brandenburg, Grünheide, Germany, in 2021. — Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, during a 2021 press event at the Tesla Gigafactory in Brandenburg, Grünheide, Germany. Photo: Patrick Pleul/Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Elon Musk donated some $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to charity last November, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission published Monday.

The big picture: The donation of 5,044,000 shares to the unidentified charity from Nov. 19 to Nov. 29 by the Tesla CEO and world's richest person were made days before he traded barbs with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) over taxes, during which he declared he'd "pay more taxes than any American in history this year."

Context: The donations are part of a plan to exercise some of his vested stock options that expire this year, and to sell some holdings to cover tax obligations, per Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva.

Worth noting: In September, Musk pledged $50 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital hours after the Inspiration4 crew splashed down.

Go deeper: UN food chief: 2% of Elon Musk's fortune would help ease hunger crisis

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Elon Musk donates $5.7 billion in Tesla shares to charity

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