Elon Musk donated Tesla shares worth $1.95bn to charity in 2022

The world’s second-richest person now owns about 13% of the electric car maker

Elon Musk donated about 11.6 million Tesla shares between August and December last year. AP

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk donated shares worth $1.95 billion in the world’s most valuable car maker to charity last year.

Mr Musk donated about 11.6 million shares between August and December last year, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.

The filing did not disclose the name of the charity or charities.

Mr Musk, the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of $187 billion, now owns about 13 per cent of Tesla.

In 2021, Mr Musk donated about $5.74 billion worth of Tesla shares to charity.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates — who held the title of the world’s richest person from 1995 to 2017, according to Forbes — was the top donor in the US last year after giving $5.11 billion to charity, data from the Chronicle of Philanthropy shows.

Mr Musk could benefit from donating Tesla stock if he gave it to charity, as shares donated to charities do not pay capital gains tax, as they would if they were sold, Reuters reported.

Mr Musk signed the Giving Pledge in 2012, a commitment by some billionaires to give at least half of their wealth to philanthropy in their lifetime or upon their death.

In 2001, he set up the Musk Foundation, offering grants for causes such as the development of safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity, renewable energy research and human space exploration research, according to its website.

The billionaire owner of social media platform Twitter and founder of SpaceX is expected to attend the World Government Summit in Dubai this week.

Earlier this year, Mr Musk broke the world record for the biggest wealth loss in history after shedding $182 billion from his net worth since November 2021, according to a report by Guinness World Records.

Mr Musk started 2023 with a net worth of $138 billion, a sharp drop from the peak of his wealth of $320 billion in 2021, Forbes magazine data showed.

“Even though Musk has lost more money than any human in history, he won't be going hungry any time soon — he’s still the world’s second-richest person,” Guinness World Records said.

He was the world’s richest person for 14 months but lost his crown to Bernard Arnault, chairman of French luxury group LVMH, on December 12.

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