Renowned entrepreneur Elon Musk, a vocal advocate for a higher global birth rate, has substantiated his
viewpoint with a financial contribution. A recent report by Bloomberg unveiled that Musk’s philanthropic
endeavour, The Musk Foundation, extended a generous donation of $10 million to fertility and
population research. The beneficiary of this endowment is the University of Texas at Austin, where the
funds were channelled in 2021. The exact purpose of this allocation remained undisclosed until the
Bloomberg report correlated it with the Population Wellbeing Initiative (PWI).
A collaborative undertaking between the University’s Population Research Center and its economics
department, the Population Wellbeing Initiative is dedicated to a comprehensive exploration of fertility
trends, the trajectory of global population dynamics, and their consequential impact on economic
growth. An academic paper originating from the Population Wellbeing Initiative and co-authored by its
director has brought attention to a striking projection rooted in declining fertility rates. The paper posits
that humanity has already traversed four-fifths of its existence, and the persistence of this trend could
potentially lead to a stark depopulation scenario with distressing implications.
Furthermore, Musk’s involvement has extended beyond monetary support, as evidenced by his funding
of a two-day Population Wellbeing Initiative conference held in October, an involvement subtly
undisclosed to participating academics. In a timely turn, Insider’s recent report revealing Musk’s
fathering of twins with a senior executive at his Neuralink company swiftly followed. Responding to this,
the billionaire entrepreneur took to Twitter, succinctly stating, “Doing my best to help the
underpopulation crisis,” and emphatically asserting, “A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger
civilization faces by far.”
