Tesla CEO Elon Muskhas publicly announced on Twitter that he will sell shares of the electric car company and donate the proceeds if the UN World Food Program proves "exactly" how this will solve the world's hunger problem.
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“If the WFP can describe in this Twitter thread exactly how $6 billion will solve the problem of world hunger, I will sell Tesla shares right now and solve it,” he said. “But it needs to be open source accounting so the public can see exactly how the money will be used,” he added.
Elon Musk vs UN: Why did Musk make this statement?
Essentially, this statement by Elon Musk was a response to a comment made by the head of the UN World Food Program, David Beasley. Beasley said that the richest people in the world could help with the global hunger problem by offering a very small portion of their income. With a very small amount for them (for millionaires) millions of hungry people could receive food and assistance. Specifically, the head of the Food Program mentioned Elon Musk, but also the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, and asked for their help.
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"$6 billion to help 42 million people who are literally going to die if we don't help them. It's not complicated," Beasley said.
As of yesterday, Elon Musk's net worth was $311 billion, making him the richest person on the planet, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Jeff Bezos is the second richest person.
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Following Beasley's comment, Musk responded by asking for a detailed description and explanation of how the six billion could solve the world hunger problem and pledged to give the money once he received the explanation.
In a response to Elon Musk on Twitter, the head of the UN World Food Program clarified that what he said was not that $6 billionwould “solve world hunger,” but that such a donation could save millions of lives during the “unprecedented hunger crisis” caused by the combination of conflict, climate change, and COVID-19. He also said that the WFP has “systems for transparency and open source accounting,” which Musk’s team could review if it wants to make a donation.
Source: CNET
