Elon Musk Ready to Sell Tesla Stocks to End World Hunger, But There's a Catch

An interesting exchange was spotted on Twitter Saturday. A news article pointed out that 2 percent of Elon Musk's wealth could solve world hunger. Musk responded he's ready to donate and even sell his Tesla stocks to do so, but only if the proposed plan has "open source accounting."

Can Musk solve world hunger? An article from CNN Business, posted last October 26, theorized the possibility. It said a small group of ultra-wealthy individuals could solve world hunger with a fraction of their net worth.

$6 Billion Budget to End World Hunger

The report took its data from CNN's Connect the World Interview with David Beasley, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) director. Beasley emphasized that WFP needs $6 billion to help "42 million people that are literally going to die if we don't reach them. It's not complicated."

Beasley pointed out that many are "knocking on famine's door." The hunger crisis is on the rise thanks to the rampant unemployment issues and inflated cost of living. The humanitarian crisis particularly is putting to risk 3.2 million children aged under five.

CNN Business noted that Tesla Chief Executive Musk has, more or less, a $289 billion net worth. This means that the $6 billion budget Beasley was asking for is just 2 percent of his wealth.

Elon Musk Tweets! Ready to Sell Tesla Stocks to End World Hunger

Dr. Eli David, a cofounder of Deep Instinct, tweeted the news article on his social media page. He pointed out that WFP already raised $8.4 billion in 2020, but it never solved world hunger anyway.

Surprising many fans, Musk actually replied to the tweeted article and said, "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."

Beasley immediately accepted the challenge, but he also pointed out a few flaws on the Twitter thread. He said, "(the) headline is not accurate. $6B will not solve world hunger, but it WILL prevent geopolitical instability, mass migration and save 42 million people on the brink of starvation."

Beasley wrote that should Musk make his donation, WFP has systems in place for transparency and open source accounting. Beasley said Musk is free to review the proposal.

But Musk was adamant to his initial request. He said the $6 billion budget plan has to be detailed and published in public so people could see exactly where the money is going. Musk also jabbed, "sunlight is a wonderful thing."

At the time of writing, Beasley has yet to make his reply. The previously mentioned budget plan is also not made available to the public.