Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, said he would sell $6 billion worth of Tesla stock to solve world hunger — if the United Nations World Food Program can explain how it would spend it.

                By                    Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy

See: Perspective — What Elon Musk Could Buy With His Billions, From Sports Teams to CountriesFind: Should You Refinance Now With the Low Mortgage Rates?

David Beasley, executive director of the WFP, said in an interview with CNN last week that billionaires need to “step up now, on a one-time basis.” Beasley specifically cited the world’s two richest people, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, saying, “$6 billion to help 42 million people that are literally going to die if we don’t reach them. It’s not complicated.”

Beasley had already called out Musk earlier last month on Twitter, saying:  

More From Your Money: Choose a high-interest saving, checking, CD, or investing account from our list of top banks to start saving today.

“Congratulations to @elonmusk for passing up @JeffBezos as the world’s richest person — worth a whopping $221B! Elon, to celebrate I’m offering you a once in a lifetime opportunity: help us save 42M people from starvation for just $6.6B!! Offer expires SOON.. and lives do too.”

See: Global Catastrophes Jeff Bezos Could Fix and Still Be the Richest Man in the WorldFind: Nearly 40% of America’s Wealthiest Billionaires Give Relatively Nothing to Charity

On Oct. 30, Dr. Eli David, co-founder of Deep Instinct and DeepCube, retweeted a CNN headline meme referencing Beasley’s comments. Musk replied:

“If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it. But it must be open source accounting, so the public sees precisely how the money is spent.”

Replying in the same thread, Beasley tweeted, “We’ve never said $6B would solve world hunger. This is a one-time donation to save 42 million lives during this unprecedented hunger crisis.”

See: Musk Tweets Against Billionaire Tax as Means to Pay for Reconciliation Bill — Legitimate or Self-Serving?Find: OECD Warns Against Ending Stimulus Despite Its Impact On Inflation

Musk’s net worth stands at $311 billion, up from $292 billion last week, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Last week, his net worth also jumped $25 billion following the announcement that Hertz had purchased 100,000 Teslas. Tesla’s stock soared, which made the company hit the $1 trillion market cap. Now, some experts see the electric vehicle company’s valuation continuing to balloon and the stock continuing to rise.

In a report released last week, the WFP said that the combined shocks of drought, conflict, COVID-19 and economic crisis have left more than half the population of Afghanistan facing a record level of acute hunger.

“Hunger is rising and children are dying,” Beasley said in the report. “We can’t feed people on promises — funding commitments must turn into hard cash, and the international community must come together to address this crisis, which is fast spinning out of control”.

  • 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social Security
  • LATEST POLL: How Do You Plan To Travel Over the Thanksgiving Holiday?
  • Navy Federal cashRewards Review: With Great Benefits Come Great Rewards
  • What To Consider When Choosing a Mortgage Lender