Igor Kurganov has been chosen by the billionaire Elon Musk as his adviser on a $5.74 billion charity. The poker player is a professional who has been in the game for a long time, and his philanthropic achievements have followed him everywhere he goes.
Igor is a former Pro member of PokerStars. He set up a poker-based NGO, Raising Effective Giving (REG), as his way of giving back to society.
Billionaire Elon Musk announced that he was giving $5.74 billion worth of his company, Tesla, to charity. Elon Musk has received strong criticism from the public with claims that he does not donate much to charity despite his massive wealth.
In the past, Elon has given to a school near the SpaceX space area in Texas, COVID-19 research, to initiatives that are combating climate change. Several of these recipients have been collaborating with the poker player.
Kurganov’s History in Charity
Kurganov has earned more than $18.7 million in tournament cash awards. Together with his girlfriend Liv Boeree, the player has set out on philanthropic causes for the last two years.
Raising for Effective Giving (REG) was established in 2014 by Kurganov Liv. The first two years were a success as they raised over $1.5 million. The pair then donated 50 percent of Kurganov’s winnings in 2017 when he won his first WSOP bracelet together with Liv.
REG focuses on empowering people from various runs of life by encouraging kindness and donating to events and fundraising campaigns.
According to Igor, the fundraisers he has donated to are transparent and maximize the donations to ensure a positive impact. Kurganov believes that just as poker games require a rational and calculative approach, the same should apply to the world when it comes to philanthropic works.
Several poker players like Martin Jacobson, Erik Seidel, and Justin Bonomo have proudly worn REG patches during major games and donated their winnings to charity.
Kurganov’s Role in Elon Musk’s Charity
Kurganov’s work is to help Elon Musk review the various proposals that he receives. The donations made by Musk will be a win-win for both the charities and the billionaire. It is believed that these donations will help Musk to reduce his U.S. tax bills which totals up to $11 billion.
It is not yet known who the donation went to. There is speculation that it is in a donor-advised fund (DAF). A DAF is an account where donation money is held before being donated.
According to Forbes, money in a DAF could stay there for years before being released to any charity organization.
About Elon Musk
Elon Musk is an American-based entrepreneur born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. He co-founded one of the largest electronic payment companies, PayPal. Musk also formed SpaceX, the manufacturer of spacecraft and launch vehicles.
Elon Musk is one of the primary investors and the CEO of the electric car, Tesla. In 2018, Musk announced that he had plans to take the company private through his Twitter handle. This was after Musk expressed his reservations on Tesla trading publicly.
Musk was sued in the same year by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for securities fraud. The SEC claimed that Musk’s tweets were misleading and not true. Elon was forced to step down as the Tesla chairman, but he remained the CEO.
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