Elon Musk gave nearly $100 million worth of Tesla shares to charity for 'tax planning'

• Elon Musk gave away nearly $100 million worth of Tesla shares to undisclosed charities on Tuesday.
• An SEC filing said the gift was made in connection with "year-end tax planning."
• Musk has previously told investors he needs more voting shares to build a "robot army."

Forget champagne — Elon Musk rang in the new year with a $100 million giveaway.

The billionaire gifted around 210,000 Tesla shares worth nearly $100 million to undisclosed charities on Tuesday, in connection with "year-end tax planning," according to an SEC filing released on Wednesday.

The filing did not reveal what the charities were, but said the recipients had indicated they "had no current intention" to sell the shares. Musk and Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

The $100 million gift is a drop in the ocean in terms of Musk's wealth, which stands at $619 billion, according to the Bloomberg billionaire's index.

It comes as the world's richest man attempts to strengthen his control over Tesla, which Musk has run as CEO since 2008.

Musk has regularly said this year that he does not own enough voting shares in the EV maker.

In January, he said he would not be comfortable expanding Tesla's AI and robotics initiatives without controlling at least 25% of the company. In October, he told investors that he didn't want to build a "robot army" at Tesla if there was a risk he could be ousted as CEO.

Musk's mammoth new pay package, which was approved by Tesla shareholders in November and could be worth as much as $1 trillion, provides him with a pathway to that level of control.

If Tesla meets a series of ambitious product and financial milestones over the next decade, Musk's stake in the company could rise from 13% to nearly 29%.

The billionaire's $100 million gift comes ahead of a pivotal week for Tesla, which is expected to report annual sales figures on Friday.

In an unusual move, the EV giant published a pessimistic analyst consensus on Monday, which forecast that Tesla will record an annual sales decline for the second year in a row.

Tesla has had a roller coaster year, with sales falling in China and Europe even as the company's stock price has hit a record high amid investor optimism over its robotaxi push.