Billionaires are increasingly being judged not just by what they earn, but by what they give. Take the feud between billionaire Elon Musk and celebrity singer Billie Eilish, for example.
After shareholders approved a deal that could make the Tesla CEO the world’s first trillionaire, the Grammy-winning star blasted Musk in a social media post suggesting that he should put his efforts towards philanthropy initiatives—such as spending $40 billion annually to combat world hunger, $10 billion annually to vaccinate newborns, and $53.2 billion to rebuild Gaza.
Musk, worth about $482 billion, later clapped back at Eilish on X, saying, “She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.”
It’s not the first time the Gen Z pop star came down on the super-rich for not giving enough of their wealth. When the 23-year-old artist was honored in October at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards for her contributions to the music industry, she questioned the audience—which included billionaire Mark Zuckerberg—on why the ultra-rich have the right to exist.
“If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties,” Eilish said, later it was revealed she’d be donating $11.5 million from her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to the Changemaker Project, a charitable initiative that addresses climate change and food insecurity.
