lon Musk is not only the world’s richest person, he lays claim to the biggest net worth ever recorded: $209.3 billion as of Friday. What he does with it will be closely watched.
Judging by Twitter, the Tesla Inc. co-founder’s preferred medium of communication, philanthropy is on his mind. One of his first reactions on becoming the wealthiest human — after an initial shrug — was to solicit advice on how to give it away.
Musk, 49, is a philanthropy neophyte compared with those he just leapfrogged on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.
Longtime No. 1 Bill Gates and his friend Warren Buffett, co-founders of the Giving Pledge initiative that urges the ultra-wealthy to donate at least half their fortunes, have each given away tens of billions in cash and stock. Even Jeff Bezos, who has been criticized for being slow to establish himself as a philanthropist, has stepped up his game. He pledged to give $10 billion to issues related to climate change last year and handed out $791 million to 16 environmental groups in November.
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