Elon Musk rings in new year with generous charity donation

Elon Musk donated around $100 million worth of Tesla shares to undisclosed charities.

The donations were made as part of his year-end tax planning, as revealed by a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing was released on Wednesday, December 31, showcasing that Musk transferred roughly 210,000 Tesla shares shortly before the new year.

The list of the charities that received the shares remains anonymous. However, it is made clear that the recipients have “no current intention” to sell the stock.

Musk and Tesla have not publicly commented on this yet.

While sizable, the donation is just a small fraction of Musk’s fortune, who is on the road to becoming the first trillionaire. In 2025, his net worth was estimated to be more than $600 billion, as reported by Bloomberg.

Another notable aspect to look at is Musk’s continuous focus on strengthening his control over Tesla. He repeatedly stated that he doesn’t own enough voting power in the electric vehicle (EV) maker to feel authoritative enough to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics ambitions.

Earlier this year, Musk stated he would want atleast 25% voting control before scaling Tesla’s AI and robotics programs, warning that he would not want to build a “robot army” if he could be removed as CEO.

Musk has a history of making generous year-end donations. In 2022, he donated shares worth $1.95 billion, while in 2021, he gave roughly $5.7 billion in stock, much of it linked to the Musk Foundation.