--- title: "Elon Musk Donates a Million Dollars to Plant a Million Trees" description: "Elon Musk announced Tuesday that he's donating $1 million worth of trees to a campaign by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, better known as \"MrBeast.\"" date: "2019-10-30" modified: "2019-10-30" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-donates-million-trees" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "trees" - "YouTube" --- # Elon Musk Donates a Million Dollars to Plant a Million Trees ![Elon Musk announced Tuesday that he's donating $1 million worth of trees to a campaign by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, better known as "MrBeast."]() *\Image: Felix Mittermeier\* ## Million Trees Yes, Tesla and SpaceX CEO [may have to go court]() in December for calling somebody a "pedo" and "child rapist" — but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the capacity to do good as well. https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1189293699659902976 The billionaire entrepreneur announced Tuesday that he's donating $1 million worth of trees — that's a million trees at one dollar a pop – to a campaign by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, better known as "MrBeast." Donaldson's goal is to drum up $20 million to donate to the Arbor Day Foundation, an organization [that claims]() to be the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to tree planting. ## "Financially Illiquid" The timing is rather odd however, with the media [wondering]() where he found enough cash for his donation. The news comes after Musk testified that he's "financially illiquid" in court filings related to a recent [defamation lawsuit](), as the [*LA Times* reported]() earlier this month. Cash poor or not, it's certainly convenient for the entrepreneur — donating to a tree planting organization could give him a much-needed PR boost. According to an[ update]() by Donaldson, Musk is now in the number one spot with the most trees. Second spot goes to Donaldson himself with only 100,002 trees — a tenth as many as Musk. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk donates $1 million to plant trees after testifying that he’s cash-poor]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on Musk:** *[It’s Official: Elon Musk Will Go to Trial Over “Pedo” Comments]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()