Billie Eilish calls out billionaire in front of Mark Zuckerberg
The Grammy Award-winning singer addressed the billionaires in attendance while accepting the Wall Street Journal’s Music Innovator Award.
Billie Eilish doesn’t have kind words for Tesla founder Elon Musk.
The pop musician, who blasted the billionaire in a speech at last month’s WSJ Innovators Awards, is slamming the Tesla CEO after shareholders approved a deal that could make him the world’s first trillionaire.
On Thursday, Nov. 13, the “Birds of a Feather” singer shared an Instagram post by the My Voice, My Choice initiative detailing what Musk could do if he reached millionaire status.
The post suggests that Musk is dedicating his wealth to philanthropy, including spending $40 billion a year to fight world hunger, $10 billion a year to vaccinate 140 million newborns over the next 100 years, and $53.2 billion to rebuild Gaza.
After sharing multiple slides, Eilish wrote a short remark on her Instagram Story on Thursday, Nov. 13, that included the words “pathetic” and “coward” and three expletives.
USA TODAY has reached out to Tesla for comment.
Is Elon Musk already a millionaire?
Musk is not a millionaire, but he could become one after Tesla shareholders agreed on Nov. 6 to give the company trillions of dollars worth of stock if the company meets financial and operational goals over the next 10 years.
If successful, the company would have a market capitalization of $8.5 trillion, according to Reuters, and Musk would own a quarter of the shares. Among its goals were increasing paid subscriptions to its self-driving software to 10 million and selling 1 million human-like robots.
“What we’re embarking on is not just a new chapter in Tesla’s future, it’s a whole new book,” Musk told shareholders.
The South African, who is already the world’s richest person, said he would use his availability and focus during negotiations and prioritize other companies such as SpaceX and Neutralink if the deal falls through, Reuters reported.
Is Elon Musk a philanthropist?
Musk has donated money to charities in the past, most notably signing the Musk Bill Gates Giving Pledge in 2012. This is a pledge in which the world’s richest people agree to donate at least 50% of their wealth to charity.
In 2001, he and his brother Kimbal Musk founded the private charity The Musk Foundation, which has donated more than $450 million in total over the past three years.
The organization has faced increased scrutiny since The New York Times reported that it failed to contribute the required 5% threshold for the 2023 tax year and the previous two tax years. The company fell short of the $421 million amount needed to avoid penalties with the Internal Revenue Service.
He has previously expressed skepticism about philanthropy, adding that his for-profit businesses have a huge impact on the world at large. Last year, he told the New York Times that he had “done more for the environment than anyone else on the planet.”
Contributed by: Reuters
