Tesla CEO Elon Musk donated roughly 5,044,000 shares of Tesla stock to charity in November 2021, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing released Monday.
The donation was worth nearly $5.74 billion based on the stock’s closing prices from Nov. 19 to Nov. 29, but the filing did not disclose the charity or charities the shares were gifted to, according to a report.
In 2021, Musk, recognized as the world’s wealthiest man, sold over $16.4 billion in shares following a Twitter poll in which he asked followers about offloading 10% of his Tesla stake, the report noted.
DESANTIS WINNING IN THE POLLS, GETS REELECTED WITH TODAY’S NUMBERS
The billionaire was reportedly slated to pay over $11 billion in taxes in 2021 given his exercise of stock options, which are set to expire in 2022, and experts said that gifting Tesla stock could give Musk a significant tax benefit.
“His tax benefit would be huge. He’d save between 40% and 50% of the $5.7 billion in tax, depending on whether he could take the deduction against his California income and he’d avoid the gains tax he would have to pay if he sold the stock,” Bob Lord, an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, said.
That said, Musk had the option to grant the stock to intermediaries, including “donor-advised funds,” instead of charities, the report noted.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Musk previously took to social media to ask users about “ways to donate money that really make a difference [way harder than it seems],” according to a January 2021 tweet.
