Elon Musk is currently the richest person in the world with a net worth of USD 289 billion. Only by donating a piece of his wealth, Musk is said to be able to solve the problem of global hunger.
Executive Director of the World Food Program David Beasley said Musk could save 42 million people in the world from hunger just by donating USD 6 billion or just 2 percent of his total wealth. But Musk doesn't have to do it alone, he can invite other billionaires to donate a little of his wealth.
"It's time for billionaires to step up just this once -- $6 billion to help the 42 million people who would die if we didn't help them. It's not complicated," Beasly said in an interview with CNN.
"I'm not asking them to do this every day, every week, every year. We have a crisis. We are facing a terrible storm of conflict, climate change and COVID-19," he continued.
Beasley said there are currently 42 million people in 43 countries who fall into the IPC level four. IPC is a classification used to measure the hunger crisis in the global population which consists of five levels, and the IPC level four is an emergency or emergency situation.
Throughout 2020, the 500 richest people in America managed to add USD 1.8 trillion to their coffers of wealth. Meanwhile, Musk himself managed to make $36 billion just on Monday (25/10).
But most of these rich people pay less in taxes than the average American. For example, Musk paid no income tax in 2018 at all, according to ProPublica data.
When he pays income taxes, as in 2015 and 2017, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla pays less than $70,000 a year.
Musk, like other billionaires such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, prefers to donate his wealth to the charitable foundations he founded. Just like Gates, the foundation is also used by Musk to evade taxes.
Based on Quartz analysis, in 2020 Musk donated $257 million to his charitable foundation, the Musk Foundation. That figure is of course only a fingernail when compared to the amount of his current wealth.
By donating their wealth to charitable foundations, Musk and other billionaires can actually get richer because such donations are not tax-deductible. Meanwhile, Musk is predicted to become the world's first billionaire.
At this time, Musk's wealth is indeed largely contributed by the Tesla electric car company he leads. However, in the future, his other company, namely SpaceX, may provide more money as the space business soars.