Elon Musk pledged to donate millions for a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.- The goal of the
Inspiration4 spaceflight by Musk's company,SpaceX , was to raise $200 million. - "Count me in for $50M," Musk said in a tweet on Saturday.
Elon Musk vowed to donate $50 million to SpaceX's Inspiration4 fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
"Count me in for $50M," Musk said in a tweet on Saturday upon the crew's re-entry back to Earth.
-Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 19, 2021
The main goal of the Inspiration4 mission was to raise $200 million for St. Jude, where one of the crew members works as a physician assistant.
The fundraiser had raised $160 million before Musk pledged to contribute to the campaign.
The historic Insipiration4 launched Wednesday evening from NASA's Kennedy
It had four people on board: Jared Isaacman, a billionaire businessman; Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant and childhood cancer survivor; Chris Sembroski, an Air Force veteran; and Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and
Isaacman, commander of the spaceflight, donated $100 million to St. Jude. The mission had raised another $60.2 million before Musk's pledge surpassed the goal, raising the total to more than $210 million, CNBC reported.
Following his donation, the crew expressed their gratitude toward Musk on Twitter.
"This brings tears to my eyes. Thank you @elonmusk for this generous donation toward our $200 million dollar fundraising goal for @StJude!!!" said Arceneaux.
As Insider's Kate Duffy reported, the crew will auction off items they took on their three-day trip around the Earth to further raise money for the hospital. These include a ukulele, artwork, and NFTs.