Musk’s genuine contributions to storm victims

The New Orleans-based nonprofit disaster recovery organization SBP reported receiving (archived) a $2.4 million grant from Musk’s Musk Foundation to aid storm victims following Hurricane Helene.

Following a volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga in January 2022, Musk’s SpaceX, a company for which he serves as CEO, helped restore (archived) some of the island nation’s internet services.

Also, on Oct. 26, 2017, the World Economic Forum reported about Musk’s efforts involving Tesla, where he also serves as CEO, contributing (archived) its Powerwall battery storage technology to bring electricity back to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in September 2017.

Inside Philanthrophy (archived) published details of other Musk Foundation contributions, including $5 million to COVID-19 vaccine research and diagnostic tools, $50 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and $480,000 for water in Flint, Michigan. Even so, The New York Times reported in December 2024 that the foundation failed to meet a standard of donating at least 5% of its assets for three consecutive years.

The Musk Foundation and SBP did not yet respond to requests for comment, in particular asking the foundation about its contributions to storm victims and asking SBP for more details about the $2.4 million grant.