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Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

bloomberg.com

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Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#51

Post by brookst »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #24
beckingz wrote: post #7

The classic billionaire tax move. Donate money to your own foundation to work on things you want while getting a big tax break.

How does the tax break work? Don't you still have to pay income and/or capital gains tax on everything that goes into the fund minus a pretty small amount?

Let’s say I make $100 at an effective income tax rate of 35%. I pay $35 in taxes and keep $65.

Now say I make the same $100 but I give $20 to a qualifying nonprofit. I have $80 left, on which I pay 35% ($28), leaving me with $52.

I have $13 less than I would have without the contribution. But if I own the nonprofit, funds under my control go from $65 to $72.

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#52

Post by notahacker »

c22 wrote: post #8

If I had money to donate I'd donate it to the charity I thought would be most effective at helping the cause I cared most about. If I had enough money to create my own charity it would be focused on the cause I cared most about. My giant ego and hubris would make it hard for me to come to the conclusion that a charity I created wasn't the most effective at its goals, even if that didn't happen to be the case.

tbh it's even more of a non-story than that, because his "own charity" is a donor advised foundation that openly dispenses money to a wide range of completely independent charities and charitable causes he and his brother pick (many of them quite well known and well regarded), not some secretive organization with some obscure purpose that might just be an arm of one of his corporations or a place to hide wealth from the IRS and invest it in private jets. That's pretty common way for rich people to give money

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#53

Post by [deleted] »

omgsean wrote: post #34
chollida1 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're by definitions giving it away. It does nothing to preserve your own wealth even if it goes to a charity you control. It's no longer your wealth and unless you want to do something illegal its not coming back to you and can't benefit you.

Past a certain point the goal of having money is the ability to wield influence. If you donate money to charity you control you can still use that charity to wield influence.

[deleted]

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#55

Post by brookst »

sixQuarks wrote: post #36
primitivesuave wrote: post #21

This reads like a hit piece, and a poorly executed attempt if so. This is standard practice and not uncommon. If we’re going to excoriate billionaires for putting their name on a foundation, shouldn’t Gates, DeVos, and others also be held to the same scrutiny? The article throws in an SBF comparison simply because both parties support the same brand of altruism.

Agreed. Also it’s not like Musk was going around saying look at me. I donated 5.7 billion to charity. The hive mind is ridiculous

When we’re talking about billionaires and nonprofits and taxes, I’m having a hard time seeing how one’s opinions could hinge on public statements rather than the money and impact.

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#56

Post by kgwxd »

sixQuarks wrote: post #41
kodyo wrote: post #11

Wait until they hear about what Bill Gates does these days.

People should research how the Bill Gates foundation has given nearly $400, million to media organizations, organizations that will never say a bad word about gates. The man is literally bribing media companies, but go ahead and believe that it’s Elon who is the evil one

Always two there are. No more, no less.

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#58

Post by badrequest »

Someone1234 wrote: post #50
c22 wrote: post #8

If I had money to donate I'd donate it to the charity I thought would be most effective at helping the cause I cared most about. If I had enough money to create my own charity it would be focused on the cause I cared most about. My giant ego and hubris would make it hard for me to come to the conclusion that a charity I created wasn't the most effective at its goals, even if that didn't happen to be the case.

Billionaire's 501(c)(3)s aren't charities in the typical sense. They're tax-exempt piles of money that are controlled exclusively by billionaire and their families (in this case Musk and his brother). The Musk Foundation in particular has donated less than 1% of the "charities" assets (most donations less than $500K, most years less than $1M) and these "charities" can pay out to their owners from tax-exempt gains on…

> Billionaire's 501(c)(3)s aren't charities in the typical sense. They're tax-exempt piles of money that are controlled exclusively by billionaire and their families

Ah, so basically the exact same as every other billionaire family's charity.

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#59

Post by s1artibartfast »

c22 wrote: post #40
brookst wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All true and a perfectly valid model. But also try: If I were incredibly wealthy and obsessed with running the score up, I’d see any taxes or other loss of wealth as a threat to my ego. If my tax accountants came to me and said I could have a greater net worth by founding a charity optimized for my personal benefit, I’d happily shuffle money there rather than paying taxes. I think that’s also a valid model. I don’t h…

I think he's probably optimizing for both. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Its not a feature, it is a bug. You don't have to hate either.

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#60

Post by rvz »

memish wrote: post #33
v0idzer0 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

TDS it out, EDS is in. Click, click, click, every article. Rage. Literally shaking.

Villain of last two months was Trump, now the the villain of the month is Musk.

There is a new villain that the media are always baiting readers every month. It's quite predictable to see as they are desperate and hungry for your clicks.

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