NEW: Elon Musk is doing his part to save the global population from collapsing— with his 💸💸💸 and his DNA.
He had a 3rd kid with his employee earlier this year. That’s his sixth since 2020.
🎁 LINK:
The numbers are mind boggling: A ~$250,000,000,000 fortune. ~42,000,000,000 committed to philanthropy and ~7,200,000,000 donated so far.
@BSteverman
and I break down Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott's plans to give away their massive fortunes via
@BW
While $6 billion and $791 million are a lot, it's important to remember how big these fortunes are. Last year the couple added almost $100 BILLION to their combined fortunes.
NEW: Months before Musk donated $5.7 billion of his Tesla stake to charity in November, he'd added a new face to his foundation's staff.
Igor Kurganov, a former poker player-turned effective altruist seems to be running things at the Austin-based org
MacKenzie Scott’s $8.6 billion charitable spree has been so fast and so big — and the process behind it so mysterious — that some real recipients think it’s fake.
We reached out to all 780+ of them to learn more about where her money is going and how.
NEW: The $5.7 billion Musk quietly donated last year went to his own foundation after all. The foundation had its busiest year ever, making $160 million in gifts.
It’s been a decade since Larry Ellison bought almost everything on Lanai – an island of 3,000 people with a rich and complicated history. People there are used to living under the control of a billionaire, but with $90 billion, Ellison is a whole new breed. A modern king!
You probably know Trump is a businessman and that his business isn't doing very well right now, but do you actually know what his empire is made up of?
@maxabelson
,
@BBGVisualData
and I break it down for you.
@delia_cai
Mr. Big from Sex and the City was manspreading next to me on the subway and I looked up to give him a dirty look and we made eye contact and I realized who he was and he knew it
Sean Penn’s nonprofit exploded during the pandemic from ~12 to 2,500 people and $7MM in annual revenue to $122MM by 2021. As he got applauded, employees say
@CoreResponse
fumbled federal funds and ignored staff concerns about finances and harassment.
Where has Jack Dorsey been giving away that $1B of Square shares he promised to charity last year? A thread on one of the newest, biggest billionaire philanthropists… (Or just read the story below!)
The college admissions scandal cuts deepest among less privileged students who have worked their entire lives-- often with little help-- for a fair shot at getting into America's best universities. w/
@BSteverman
and
@JanetLorin
The problem is, no one really knows what Ellison's plan is -- not even the people who work for him! But since the billionaire moved to the island during the pandemic, the execution of his plans seems to be picking up. And locals are anxious.
It's the Wild West in this $100 billion corner of crypto investing, with no regulation and scams abound.
Vigilante groups like the
@RugSeekers
have stepped in to help investors figure out whether they're getting robbed.
Today's Big Take w/
@misyrlena
Last year, a billionaire randomly eliminated the student debt of 400 young men
@Morehouse
. I spoke to one of the lucky grads and one of his less fortunate peers in the Class of 2018 in a look at how crippling student debt can be early in life:
Tidbit of note from Amazon share jump today: MacKenzie Scott made $2.9 billion in a matter of hours— $200 million more than she’s donated so far this year (despite her record pace/scale of giving) w/
@ScottJourno
***American billionaires hold more than $5 trillion (with a T!)
***They've added $1.2 trillion to their combined fortune over the last year alone
The vast majority of that is in the form of unrealized gains, which is the target of the "billionaires' tax"
NEW: Last year, the ex-Amazon executive running Bezos's nonprofit pre-k for low-income kids was paid closer to an Ivy League president's salary.
In most of 2021 they only had 1 school with 13 kids.
Scoop: Jared Kushner's family company is selling 10 apt complexes in Maryland, where there's a lawsuit against them over 'hazardous conditions,' among other things.
Latest two sold for combined $240M. The rest are expected to close before summer.
Trump has some loyalists who are passionate patrons of his businesses -- and those of his allies: “I’ve never bought Goya beans in my life, and now my house looks like a Goya factory...We’ve got MyPillows everywhere.” w/ the fantastic
@maxabelson
Another sign of public pressure for Bezos to start giving back is the Twitter account
@HasBezosDecided
which student Morgan Paulett started in 2019. Everyday it tweets: “Jeff Bezos has decided he will not end world hunger today.”
Here's some news: I'm getting back into the business of reporting on Trump's empire. Will also be keeping an eye on Wall Street too, of course. Good stuff to come over the next few months from me,
@sooo__phie
,
@tina_davis
and an excellent gang of colleagues. Stay tuned
Trump supporters are investing tens — and even hundreds — of thousands of dollars of their savings in his SPAC, waiting and hoping it all works out as planned.
“I believe in Trump. I believe in him.” w/
@cfb_18
and
@NBuhayar
Some of its big gifts:
$55 million to St Jude's
$54 million to X Prize
$10 million to UT Austin
~$5 million to Brownsville school district
$4 million to Future of Life Insitute
NEW: SBF's philanthropy promised ~$90 million to charities that will never be paid out.
Another $10 million that was paid came from an FTX subsidiary that is bankrupt, meaning the gifts *could* be clawed back. w/
@laurapdavison
Now that Bezos is stepping down as CEO of Amazon, we could see him start to give away more, faster. After all, Bill Gates, one of the most praised philanthropists in history didn't really step up his giving until leaving Microsoft.
Elon Musk tweets and millions listen.
I spoke with one investor who, after seeing Musk's tweet, drove 16 hours to Brownsville and bought two homes in cash the day he arrived.
But it's not just real estate that's changing thanks to Musk's influence.
Celebrity chef José Andrés’ disaster relief charity has been dealing with fraud, sexual harassment allegations and staff protests over the past year. I spoke to more than two dozen workers to get the full picture of WCK and its leader, “Hurricane José”
My birthday wish is that you read my story from yesterday about a man who said he lost most of his retirement savings —$300k — after his Robinhood account was hacked and the company wouldn’t return it (w/
@MelinAnders
)
"The fact that we would even talk about the future of global public health hinging on the relationship between individuals, I think it’s reflective of a larger problem”
Kanye West's Yeezy was worth as much as $3 billion at the end of last year per a Bank of America valuation we reviewed. Kanye owns 100% of the company. He also owns about $300,000 worth of livestock on his Wyoming ranch!
w/
@KimBhasin
Lots of mixed feelings about the MacKenzie Scott news:
"It seems she really wants to step out of the limelight and I think there’s something beneficial about that...but it cloaks the transparency and the accountability."
In 2017, the year Bezos became the world's richest man with ~$90B, pressure mounted for him to explain how he'd spend it for good. He tweeted this in June. At this point he's given away ~$70M.
2019 is also the year Jeff and MacKenzie divorce. MacKenzie ends up with 1/4 of the couple's fortune and almost immediately pledges to give away the majority of it to charity.
So often on my drive from
@KenyonCollege
to the Columbus airport, someone in the car would point out New Albany and say it was built by the Victoria's Secret owner. Turns out they were right!
Always read the brilliant
@josheidelson
but especially today as American workers -- on the heels of the Great Resignation and
#Striketober
-- are in a unique spot, finally with *some* leverage! His feature on unemployment tells you what you need to know.
Remember, this was all during the period when he was sparring with politicians on Twitter about his taxes. A large gift to charity would help reduce what he owed to the government and at the time he claimed it'd be the biggest U.S. tax bill ever.
Where has Jack Dorsey been giving away that $1B of Square shares he promised to charity last year? A thread on one of the newest, biggest billionaire philanthropists… (Or just read the story below!)
Jakarta is the fastest sinking mega city on the planet. Experts say it has until 2030 to save itself — and its best last hope is a local noodle billionaire.
Anyways, there's a new richest person on the block: Elon Musk. And already, people, including him, are talking about how he'll give some of his fortune away:
Last year was the busiest year yet for the couple. MacKenzie gave away $6 billion in a matter of months and Jeff pledged to donate $10 billion to help solve climate change. In November, Jeff gave away the first $791 million of that pledge.
Over the last 6 weeks, including over the weekend, we’ve seen how documents can be mischaracterized. Obviously, not every employee at Facebook is an executive; not every opinion is the company’s position.
(2/12) First off— that $1B is now more like $4.5B because Square shares have ballooned. He’s given away $420M+ so far. At this rate — with billions left to give and growing— Dorsey could be at the project forever. Literally.
Thanks so much to all the employees who spoke with me even though they were still processing their time at CORE and the many who said they were afraid of what CORE might do if they found out they talked. Of course, also a thank you to my fantastic editor
@JeffMuskus
“This is the American dream — I did everything right,” said Mclaurin, whose standard monthly payment would be about $1,700. “I'll have a looming debt hanging over me for the rest of my life.”
via
@PaulinaCachero
+
@cfb_18
(END) There’s plenty of money left to give so this could all change! But it’s what we know so far.
P.S. This is the second in a (hopefully) ongoing series on the new big givers. Here’s the story on MacKenzie Scott from earlier this year:
I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people, but a special shoutout to
@maxabelson
-- There are few ppl I'd rather spend six (6!!) straight hours with fact checking on a Sunday!
Eric Adams: "We are working every day to dam the many rivers that feed the sea of violence.”
What he's talking about: jumping subway turnstiles, "sleeping on a park bench, taking up two seats on the subway”... great story by
@FolaAk
(9/12) The rest of the gifts went all over— but a common thread was someone knowing someone connected to Dorsey. The name that came up the most was DeRay Mckesson— the BLM activist, podcast host and friend of Dorsey.
(4/12) Jay-Z, Rihanna, Eminem, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Jaden Smith, John Legend and Matt Damon are among those whose charitable organizations have received direct donations from Jack Dorsey’s philanthropic LLC
#StartSmall
.
In California, early social distancing measures may have slowed the spread of the virus. Still, a surge in cases is not a matter of if, but when. Hopefully we've bought enough time to prepare. w/
@dinabass
@nquerolo
Then, because of the financial disclosure's pesky ranges, I took the net worth valuation we have for Trump, updated it and looked at how it compared to 2016's.
Again, almost everything is down.
"The sad news spread quickly through the Happiest Place on Earth. Princess Jasmine was being laid off. Winnie-the-Pooh, too. Even Mickey Mouse." Meanwhile, Bob Iger, Disney's exec chairman has become a billionaire.
A fun/depressing one by
@MelinAnders
"While he portrayed his proposal as having to do with debate over billionaires avoiding taxes, the filings released Wednesday show some of the transactions were pre-arranged in mid-September" via
@MelinAnders
Michael Larson's main job was to keep the Gates name out of the headlines...
A look inside the secretive family office for one of the world's richest couples with
@MelinAnders
+
@LamoneyTom
Early May: Gateses announce divorce, insist no changes to foundation or their roles
Late May: Okay maybe some changes
June: Warren Buffett resigns as third trustee
July: Bill has power to kick Melinda out in 2 years
On Dorsey news: Billionaire founders don't typically get serious about their philanthropy until stepping down from the companies they built. Right now Dorsey is CEO of Twitter, Square and "very involved" in his giving.
That's a lot on his plate...
The idea and service is all that matters to me, and I will do whatever it takes to protect both. Twitter as a company has always been my sole issue and my biggest regret. It has been owned by Wall Street and the ad model. Taking it back from Wall Street is the correct first step.
@andretartar
took his first financial disclosure, which covers 2015, and his latest, which covers 2020 to look at how each piece of the empire has performed. Almost everything is down in terms of revenue.
Two mega-IPOs in a week would normally have SF preparing for a rush of wealth, but as Covid hammers the city into routine lockdowns, many of the millionaires-to-be probably left months ago for the burbs or Tahoe or beyond
Rich Americans have long used philanthropy to patch over dubious business records and build a more flattering legacy. The Sacklers' naming rights have come under serious scrutiny in recent years bc of their role in the opioid crisis.
Rich people with foundations are taking advantage of a loophole that allows them to get their tax break for giving $$ to charity...without necessarily giving $$ to charity.
@NBuhayar
+
@BSteverman
and I dig in.
NEW: An investigation into years long sexual harassment from a director at Jose Andres’s
@WCKitchen
led to the departure of its CEO last year. NO PAYWALL: