Elon Musk, the world’s richest billionaire, disputed a UN official’s assertion that a small portion of his fortune might help end world hunger.
Musk was replying to UN World Food Programme Director David Beasley, who repeated a request last week after an earlier tweet this month asking billionaires like Musk to “step up now, on a one-time basis,” Musk said.
Musk and Amazon.com Inc. co-founder Jeff Bezos, the two men at the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, have been specifically urged to take action by Beasley.
According to Beasley, $6 billion could save the lives of 42 million people.
In a tweet, Musk said that if the World Food Programme can “describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6 billion will cure world hunger using transparent and open accounting,” he will sell Tesla stock right now and do it.
According to Bloomberg’s wealth index, Musk’s current net worth is $311 billion, and the $6 billion number is less than the $9.3 billion growth in his wealth on Oct. 29 alone.