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23rd Oct 2023

Elon Musk says he’ll give $1 billion to Wikipedia if they change their name to D*ckipedia

Joseph Loftus

Musk seems to have a problem with Wikipedia

Elon Musk has offered to donate a massive $1 billion to Wikipedia if they’ll change their name to D*ckipedia.

Wikipedia, the world’s favourite encyclopedia, is always asking for donations in order to help them keep running the site as smoothly and accurately as possible, and now Musk has pledged a monstrous donation.

Taking to his own platform, X, Musk shared a screenshot of Wikipedia’s request for donations before writing: “I will give them a billion dollars if they change their name to D*ckipedia”.

It appears Musk wasn’t best pleased with Wikipedia’s initial appeal for money, as he shared the screenshot with a snooze emoji too.

In a follow-up message, Musk asked why Wikipedia are always asking for cash.

He said: “Have you ever wondered why the Wikimedia Foundation wants so much money? It certainly isn’t needed to operate Wikipedia. You can literally fit a copy of the entire text on your phone!

“So, what’s the money for? Inquiring minds want to know…”

Eventually, his question was announced by Samantha Lien, a spokeswoman for the Wikimedia Foundation, who told The Washington Post: “Based on guidance from the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees, our reserve amounts to one year of operating budget.

“If there were circumstances that affected our ability to raise those funds during that period, we could end up in an urgent situation — the reserve is a safety net to protect Wikipedia against such a possibility.”

Makes sense.

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