Elon Musk gave 5 million Tesla shares to charity after teasing possible donation to fight world hung

Jeremy C. Owens

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk donated more than 5 million Tesla shares in November, just days after the U.N. World Food Program outlined a plan to potentially use a $6 billion donation from the world's richest man.

A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made public Monday showed the donation, but not the recipient. The Tesla TSLA, +4.56% shares were transferred in batches between Nov. 19 and Nov. 29, as Musk was also selling Tesla stock in preparation for a large tax bill.

On Halloween, Musk promised on Twitter TWTR, +2.21% that he would sell Tesla stock and donate $6 billion to the U.N. World Food Program if it “can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger.” The executive director of the program, David Beasley, responded with a proposal on Monday, Nov. 15, and Musk began transferring shares to a charity the following Friday.

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