Elon Musk wants to launch a university in Austin
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Elon Musk. Photo: Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Elon Musk plans to launch a university in Austin, according to tax filings first reported by Bloomberg.
Driving the news: The filings for the billionaire's new charity, "The Foundation," lay out Musk's plans, starting with a donation of just over $100 million to create a STEM-focused K-12 school in Austin.
- After that, the school "ultimately intends to expand its operations to create a university dedicated to education at the highest levels," according to the filing published by Bloomberg.
- The university would seek accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, per the document.
Why it matters: It's the latest plan by Musk, who moved to Austin during the pandemic, to reshape Central Texas according to his vision.
- He's building a town in Bastrop east of Austin — dubbed Snailbrook — to house employees of Tesla, SpaceX and his tunneling venture, Boring Company.
- Musk moved the Tesla headquarters to Austin in 2021 and built a 10 million-square-foot factory, which produced the company's first Cybertrucks last month.
Details: The STEM school expects an initial class of 50 students and will need to hire an executive director, teacher and administrator, according to the application.
- The new charity's trustees include Jared Birchall, head of Musk's family office; Steven Chidester, a tax attorney at Withersworldwide; and Ronald Gong and Teresa Holland, who work at Catalyst Family Office in California, according to Bloomberg.
Flashback: In 2014, Musk built a small, private school in Los Angeles for his kids and the children of his employees.
Between the lines: He also plans to convert a home in Bastrop to create a Montessori school for up to 15 students, according to correspondence obtained by the Wall Street Journal between a Boring Company official and county government employee.
The big picture: Musk's tax filing comes roughly a month after the University of Austin — a new school started by higher education critics — announced that it's accepting its first applicants for fall 2024.
- With its headquarters just blocks from the University of Texas at Austin, the university's founders launched the school two years ago to combat what they see as a rise in "illiberalism" on college campuses.
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