SpaceX, Neuralink, Boring Company and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Ilon Musk said that the companies founded or managed by him are charitable because they seek to improve the future of mankind, Business Insider writes.

This statement by Musk was made in a video interview with Chris Anderson, the chief organizer of the TED conference, a private non-profit foundation in the United States.

At the conference, Musk shared his unorthodox ideas about philanthropy, which he generally understands as love for humanity, and in his view, SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink and Boring Company are philanthropic entities, although philanthropy, or charity, has recently become associated within a narrow framework as generous donations from very wealthy people.

Musk said Tesla, which makes electric cars, is accelerating the development of sustainable energy, and his space exploration company SpaceX is working to ensure the long-term survival of humanity on multiple planets.

Neuralink, a brain microchip company, is trying to help solve the problem of treating brain injuries and existential risk with artificial intelligence, and Boring Company, a tunneling company, is trying to solve traffic congestion, which is hell for most people, and that’s love for humanity too.

However, if we look at Musk’s companies from a different perspective, we see that they are all commercial ventures and have helped him become the richest man in the world, even though he positions them as offering useful goods and services to humanity. His alleged fortune is estimated at $251 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

And this isn’t the first time Musk has indicated that he considers direct donations a waste of time. For example, in 2021, Musk challenged the director of the UN World Food Program’s claim that his one-time donation of $6 billion could alleviate global hunger. Musk said that if the UN could prove this claim, he would sell Tesla stock.