Elon Musk makes huge multi-billion dollar charitable donation using Tesla shares

The document lodged with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed the donation was made between August and December last year, the BBC reports.

This is not the first time the Tesla chief executive has given away stock in the electric car manufacturer to charity. In 2021, he donated roughly $5.74bn worth of shared, according to a regulatory filing.

"I'm guessing probably towards the end of this year would be good timing to find someone else to run the company, because I think it should be in a stable position around, you know, at the end of this year," he said.

"I think I need to stabilise the organisation and just make sure it's in a financially healthy place and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out," he said on a video link at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Musk purchased the social media platform for $44bn in October last year, but since then things haven't gone brilliantly for him. In January, he became the first person ever to lose $200 billion off his net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index. Musk, 51, whose net worth peaked in November 2021 at $340 billion, has seen his wealth plunge to $137 million as Tesla shares have plummeted 65 per cent in the past year. It has been the electric carmaker’s worst year to date.