Elon Musk Says Tesla Hasn’t Signed a Contract With Hertz Yet Despite the Hype

You only need to look at the headlines after Hertz’s announcement to see that everyone thought Hertz had formally ordered the cars from Tesla.

All of this does raise the question of why Musk felt it was important to respond to the anonymous Tesla Silicon Valley Club’s Twitter account about such a consequential deal and not issue some kind of press statement. News outlets monitor Musk’s Twitter account closely, given the fact that he wields an enormous amount of power, but there are some things that should probably be done the old fashioned way. Musk did, after all, make $36 billion in a single day all thanks to Tesla’s stock price after the Hertz announcement.

Elon Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, made another $24 billion on Monday, bringing his net worth to $335 billion. But Musk is apparently still skeptical that his money should be used to feed the poor. The billionaire founder of SpaceX tweeted his doubts on Sunday that a one-time donation of $6 billion would save 27 million people from starvation.

Musk said he’d sell Tesla stock and make the donation if $6 billion would solve world hunger, but the director of the UN’s World Food Program explained it wouldn’t fix world hunger forever, just address the immediate needs of 27 million people who are on the verge of starvation. Musk seemed unmoved by the plea for help.

The UN World Food Program, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020, was founded in 1961. The program delivers 15 billion rations annually, at a cost of $0.61 per ration, according to the program’s website.

Musk, who has a reputation as a real prick, paid $0 in federal taxes in 2018 and it’s clear that no single person should be solely in charge of how $335 billion is spent. Tax the man and tax him now, we say, maybe before his house of cards collapses.