Remove Elon Musk from The Giving Pledge

In 2010, The Giving Pledge was founded by Bill & Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet with a noble goal: inspire the billionaires of the world to give back. The pledge is "a movement of philanthropists who commit to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes." You can read more about it at givingpledge.org/about. A complete list of pledgers (including Elon Musk) can be found here: givingpledge.org/pledgerlist

What is a philanthropist? According to the Oxford Dictionary...

phi·lan·thro·pist

/fəˈlanTHrəpəst/

noun: philanthropist;

Any billionaire or multi-millionaire can sign The Giving Pledge to demonstrate their commitment to philanthropy - i.e. to promoting the welfare of others. However, this poses an issue for the movement, in that anyone can use the pledge to promote themselves as a magnanimous human being without actually being sincere in their intentions.

The Giving Pledge members recognize this and, in their wisdom, have removed such insincere pledgers from their list in the past. Specifically, they cite violation of the "spirit of the pledge" as a reason for removal. 

To date, those unwillingly removed from the list include:

Arif Naqvi : Removed in May 2024, after the collapse of his private equity firm.
Sam Bankman-Fried : Removed in December 2022, after his arrest for fraud.
T. Denny Sanford : Removed in May 2023 due to involvement in child pornography. 

Fast forward to today: Elon Musk has used his power, privilege, and hundreds of millions of dollars, not only to prop up a President known to cozy up to notorious dictators such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, but to line his own pockets with $8 MILLION PER DAY of taxpayer money via his companies' government contracts (which he can now ensure have no competition from other contractors). Meanwhile, he's taking a wrecking ball to the social service programs that millions of Americans rely on for sustenance and healthcare. In other words, he is directly acting to destroy the welfare of others. Not only this, but he recently stated publicly that “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy” while appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Does this sound philanthropic to you?

I didn't think so.

One week ago, I wrote to The Giving Pledge urging them to remove Musk's name, in the tradition they have already established. Here was the (automatic) response (I have received no other response):

"The Giving Pledge is a commitment by the world's wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.

Please note that the Giving Pledge does not support any specific causes or organizations, but rather encourages signatories to find their own unique ways to give that inspire them personally and benefit society. The Giving Pledge does not grant money directly to organizations or individuals - each person who takes the Giving Pledge makes an individual decision about which particular causes or organizations they wish to support."

If you think this philanthropic organization should hold its members to a higher standard, rather than allow them to use the label of "philanthropist" to line their own pockets while actively working against the welfare of others, PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION to urge The Giving Pledge to take a stand and REMOVE ELON MUSK from their list.