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Billionaire investor Peter Thiel has reportedly advised Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to withdraw from the Giving Pledge, a philanthropic initiative co-founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett that encourages billionaires to donate most of their wealth to charitable causes.
According to lecture recordings obtained by Reuters, Thiel told audiences in San Francisco that he warned Musk his fortune could end up “in the hands of left-wing nonprofits chosen by Bill Gates.” Musk, currently the world’s richest man with an estimated net worth of $486 billion, joined the Giving Pledge in 2012. Thiel claimed Musk took his warning seriously.
The PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor shared the anecdote during an eight-hour lecture series in which he explored theology, global politics, and his belief in the emergence of an “Antichrist” figure—someone who, he suggested, could rise to power by exploiting fears of global crises like nuclear war, artificial intelligence, or climate change. Thiel warned that such a leader could impose a “one-world government” and suppress human freedom and innovation.
Thiel reportedly linked his conversation with Musk to broader concerns about how immense wealth might be used—or misused—after death. He said he calculated Musk’s annual probability of death, equating it to “giving $1.4 billion to Bill Gates.” Musk allegedly replied, “It would be much worse to give it to Bill Gates than to my children.”
Thiel argued that billionaire fortunes could serve as a safeguard against the rise of authoritarian global systems, provided they aren’t seized through taxes or charitable foundations. He even speculated on whether political figures like Donald Trump could serve as checks against an Antichrist, adding that perspectives on such figures depend largely on ideology.
