Billionaire investor Peter Thiel is urging the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, to opt out of the Giving Pledge—a promise by billionaires to give away the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.

In recent transcripts and audio lectures given by Thiel to Reuters , Thiel recalled warning Musk that his wealth would go “to left-wing nonprofits that will be chosen by Bill Gates.”

Thiel then did the math: the probability of Musk’s death in the coming year would effectively mean giving $1.4 billion to Gates.

“What am I supposed to do—give it to my children?” Musk responded, as Thiel recounted. “You know, it would be much worse to give it to Bill Gates.”

Launched in 2010 by Bill and Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett, the Giving Pledge invites the world’s wealthiest indi

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