By
Svetlana Soroka
April 18th, 2024
Initially, the goal was $200 million. Inspiration4 commander Jared Isaacman donated $100 million personally. Further, the mission itself brought another $60.2 million in donations. With Musk’s donation, the campaign’s total raise made up more than $210 million.
On Saturday, September 19, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and SpaceX founder Elon Musk pledged to donate as much as $50 million to help achieve the fundraising goal of Inspiration4 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. His tweet came just hours after the company returned its crew with a successful splashdown on Saturday.
Count me in for $50M
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2021
Last week, SpaceX launched four civilians into space on its first private flight that was a three-day orbital excursion. Dubbed Inspiration4, the flight launched on Wednesday at 8:02 pm local time from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Onboard were Jared Isaacman, a tech billionaire and space enthusiast, as well as three other American citizens without specialized astronaut training. In particular, they included pilot Sian Proctor, medical officer Hayley Arceneaux, and mission specialist Chris Sembroski. On Saturday, the space tourists returned back, landing with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Florida coast.
Inspiration4 Fundraising Mission
The flight has become the first-ever all-civilian trip to space. Apart from achieving the milestone of allowing the entirely nonprofessional crew to become astronauts, Inspiration4 has completed a fundraising mission for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital that specializes in treating children’s cancers and pediatric diseases.
The group says on its website:
“We’ve set an ambitious fundraising goal to give hope to all kids with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. Your contribution will advance the lifesaving work of St. Jude, and help us make a brighter future for children everywhere.”
Initially, the goal was $200 million. Inspiration4 commander Jared Isaacman donated $100 million personally to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Further, the mission itself brought another $60.2 million in donations. Then, Elon Musk pledged to contribute $50 million to the fundraising mission of Inspiration4. As a result, the campaign’s total raise made up more than $210 million.
Richard C. Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC, the fundraising organization for St. Jude, stated:
“All of us at St. Jude are incredibly grateful to Inspiration4 Commander Jared Isaacman for his support of our lifesaving mission. He is an amazing individual and humanitarian who aligned his passion for space with a philanthropic purpose for the mission: Finding cures and saving children from life-threatening diseases.”
On his behalf, Jared Isaacman also shared his gratitude on Twitter:
We loved space but it’s great to be home! 🌎 Incredible news on @elonmusk donation and surpassing the 200m goal for @StJude. Let’s keep it going! 🚀 On behalf of @inspiration4x – thank you all for the support and thanks to @SpaceX for bringing us home safe! Keep changing the 🌎
— Jared Isaacman (@rookisaacman) September 19, 2021
As for Elon Musk, whose net worth is about $196.3 billion, he is always on the news due to his philanthropy spendings. Over just the first four months of 2021, Musk committed almost $150 million directly to charities. However, one of the biggest commitments was the XPrize competition. The $100 million was awarded to entrepreneurs who came up with the best technologies to capture carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and lock it away permanently.