The Techno King and Space X Executive Elon Musk, the man credited with one of the most generous charitable donations ever recorded by the media, allegedly contributed $5.7 billion of his company shares to a nonprofit the previous year. To say the least, Elon Musk is a divisive figure even in the right circumstances due to his carefree demeanor and proclivity for rash statements.
Authorities, particularly the (SEC) acronym for Securities and Exchange Commission have frequently warned Tesla CEO Elon Musk regarding the dangers of his social media engagement. For his charitable behavior, Elon is now being lauded despite his shortcomings as well.
Elon Liquidated Over 5 Million Tesla Stocks in 2019
Over five million worth of Tesla stocks were given to an unknown organization from November 19, 2021, to November 29 of the same year, Space Ex CEO announced in a statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission on Monday. The shares were valued at $5.74 billion at the time of the transaction, says Bloomberg. Even if shares of Tesla dropped in recent times, they are currently estimated to be valued at jaw-dropping $4.4 billion.
Although the IRS evaluates given shares based on actual market valuation at the date of the contribution, this is not the case for tax reasons. The nonprofit that will benefit as well as the foundation that will be engaged in the transfer are both being kept under wraps.
The Contributions Can Be Leveraged To Balance Tax Bill
It happened following the conflict between Senators Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders who clashed with Tesla CEO Elon Musk regarding the widening gap between the affluent and poor in the United States, which sparked the debate of a possible income levy on Gazillionaires.
At the same time, WFP CEO David Beasley has been urging philanthropists to increase their contributions in order to nourish the world’s impoverished people. Beasley estimates that $6 billion is required for the organization to nourish 42 million individuals who might possibly starve to death. Beasley as well as his organization were met with a furious response from Elon, who said he’ll immediately start selling Tesla shares to aid finance the initiative if they could show how $6 billion can eradicate global famine.
If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2021
Lately, Tesla’s valuation passed the $1 trillion barriers. Because of the rising value of Tesla’s shares, The Techno King has overtaken Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in the race of being the wealthiest man on the planet. It’s estimated that Elon liquidated $16 billion worth of stocks the year before, with the bulk of the revenue heading against an $11 billion national tax liability that he owes the US government.
Nevertheless, philanthropic contributions are free from the capital gains tax, so Elon might be capable of leveraging the valuation of it in form of a tax credit to reduce his taxable income.
