Business
Billie Eilish calls on billionaires to give away their wealth—with Mark Zuckerberg in the room: ‘If you’re a billionaire, why are you one?’
Billie Eilish has a message for the world’s most prominent billionaires: Give your money away, shorties.
“I love you all, but there are a few people here with a lot more money than me,” she said. “If you’re a billionaire—why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties,” she said at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards.
The comments came as the 23-year-old artist was honored for her contributions to the music industry on Wednesday. It was then revealed she’d be donating $11.5 million from her “Hit Me Hard and Soft” tour to The Changemaker Project, a charitable initiative that addresses climate change and food insecurity.
One of the billionaires in attendance at the awards show was Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, accompanying his wife, Priscilla Chan, who was recognized for her philanthropic efforts. Others who attended included director Spike Lee, Rhode founder Hailey Bieber, and “Star Wars” creator George Lucas.
“We’re in a time right now where the world feels really dark, and people need empathy and help more than ever—especially in our country,” Eilish told the star-studded audience. “If you have money, it’d be great to use it for good—maybe give some to people who need it,” she said.
According to People magazine, which had reporters on the ground at the event, Zuckerberg did not clap along with the rest of the audience at Eilish’s remarks. The Facebook co-founder has a reported net worth of $226 billion, according to Forbes.
Meanwhile, Eilish has an estimated net worth of $50 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Despite her growing success, and winning nine Grammy Awards, the Gen Z star still lives with her parents in their two-bedroom, one-bathroom property in Los Angeles.
Eilish has long been an advocate for environmental and social causes alongside her mother, Maggie Baird, and brother, Finneas. Together, they’ve championed sustainability in the music industry. Baird, a climate activist, is also the founder of Support + Feed, a nonprofit promoting plant-based eating to fight climate change and food insecurity.
Zuckerberg signed Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge, though few have fulfilled the promise
Zuckerberg and Chan signed the Giving Pledge, a promise to give away a majority of wealth over time, back in 2010. Launched that same year by Bill and Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett, the Giving Pledge invites the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to publicly commit to giving away at least 50% of their wealth to philanthropy, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.
Some of the signers include Bezos’s ex-wife MacKenzie Scott (but not Jeff Bezos), Michael Bloomberg, Elon Musk, George Lucas, and Mark Zuckerberg. Billionaire Peter Thiel previously warned Tesla’s Elon Musk to get out of it, as it donates to “left-wing non profits.”
Despite hundreds of billionaires signing the Giving Pledge, they haven’t necessarily followed through. (In fact, only one billionaire couple seems to have actually done it.) The pledge is a moral commitment rather than a legally binding contract: Participants sign an open letter explaining their reasons for giving, and they can choose which causes and charities to support.As part of following through on the Giving Pledge, in 2015, Zuckerberg and Chan announced they would give 99% of their shares in Facebook—worth $45 billion at the time—to charity—but the move was met with widespread criticism when the billionaire couple said they would give their money away to their own Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, aprogram focuses on healthcare and education.
