YouTuber Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson – who is currently campaigning to raise $20 million from fellow YouTube celebrities for a climate change fundraising effort – just received $1 million worth of trees from Elon Musk.
But interestingly enough, Musk has recently admitted in a sworn testimony that he is financially, cash-poor.
Musk revealed to the YouTuber how he would make a donation on Twitter after some pushing from Marques “MKBHD” Brownlee, who had interviewed Musk in the past.
At first, Musk inquired on Twitter about the type of trees being planted as part of MrBeast’s fundraising efforts — to which MrBeast responded that the trees are being planted on every continent except for Antarctica, with the type of tree depending on where it is planted.
But even without Musk’s donation, the fundraising program has raised over $6 million as the project is a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation.
When Brownlee first shared that information with Musk, he replied with “sounds legit,” and proceeded to pledge 1 million trees.
And while Musk’s name is now attached to a massive positive, he is currently still battling a Twitter-related defamation suit as last year, Musk used his Twitter audience of almost 30 million to call a British cave diver named Vernon Unsworth “pedo guy.”
This happened after Unsworth criticized Musk’s attempts to aid the rescue of a boys soccer team in Thailand that had become trapped in a cave.
Later, Musk revealed to BuzzFeed News that Unsworth was a “child rapist,” adding, “I f*****g hope he sues me.”
Unsworth then filed a defamation suit against Musk, and the trial is now set to begin in Los Angeles on December 3rd. In a recent court filing, Musk informed lawyers that despite his overwhelming stock holdings in Tesla and SpaceX, he was financially illiquid. Which, in lamens terms, means his insurer, American International Group Inc., may get involved in any potential court settlement or financial payout as a result of the case.
And that being said, it is surprising to many that Musk has the cash on hand to help plant those trees for charity despite him claiming he was scraping by.
That being said, Musk has already completed his pledged and paid out the $1 million towards the efforts.
As for what is left in his pocket is anyone’s guess now.