If you’ve listened to any interviews with Elon Musk or read his tweets over the years, chances are you’re aware that he's concerned about a population collapse.
Musk is now putting his money where his mouth is with a donation to support the cause.
What Happened: For years, Musk has warned that people around the world are having fewer children, something that could continue to lower the world’s population.
To support the cause and effort, The Musk Foundation donated $10 million to the University of Texas to support a project known as the Population Wellbeing Initiative, according to a Bloomberg report.
The donation was one of the largest made by the Musk Foundation, which was founded by Elon Musk and brother Kimbal Musk. According to tax filings for the Musk Foundation, the donation was sent in 2021 to help “support research programs.”
The Population Wellbeing Initiative is a research team dedicated to examining population trends, and has released articles on subjects like utilitarianism, fertility and climate change.
Several of the papers released by the Population Wellbeing Initiative suggest that humanity could “end with a whimper” due to a decline in fertility rates.
The Population Wellbeing Initiative website calls itself a “joint project of the UT-Austin Population Research Center and Economics Department.”
“The Population Wellbeing Initiative at UT-Austin is a network of researchers who conduct foundational research in economics, demography, and social welfare evaluation,” the company’s website reads.
Among the project areas listed on the group’s website are fertility, parenting and the future of population growth.
Musk is also said to have helped fund a two-day fertility conference led by the Population Wellbeing Initiative.
Along with donations to the University of Texas, tax filings from the Musk Foundation revealed donations to Georgetown University ($2 million) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($1.5 million), which are being used to study artificial intelligence and pandemic preparedness respectively.
The donation by Musk prompted one user on Twitter, now known as X, to say that Musk cares a lot about the future of the world.
“I care very much,” Musk tweeted in response.
Related Link: 'I'm Doing My Part': Why Elon Musk Says He's 'Unusual' When It Comes To Having Children
Why It’s Important: Musk has fathered 10 children and often told the public that he has done his part to support a growing population that is needed for the future.
The billionaire once called population collapse “potentially the greatest risk to the future of civilization.”
Musk has shown statistics over the years of people having one or two children on average, which is below a 2.1 threshold needed on average to maintain the current population.
“Civilization is going to collapse,” Musk said in a previous interview with the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley Club.
The billionaire also asked if people really understand that babies don’t come from “some magical f****** people factory.
“They gotta come from somewhere and they take ages to grow.”
The contribution by the Musk Foundation follows other donations made by the billionaire. In 2022, Musk gave nearly $2 billion in Tesla Inc TSLA shares to charity. A filing revealed that Musk donated 11.6 million shares of the electric vehicle company between August and December 2022.
Musk donated $5.57 billion in Tesla shares to charity in 2021.
Read Next: 52 Facts And Figures About Elon Musk
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