Elon Musk just stumbled on a great way for SpaceX to make more money – add a Starlink donation option!
Starlink Donation : Way Out For Elon Musk + Brilliant Way To Make $$$
Right after being forced to withdraw his demand for more Starlink funding, Elon Musk just found a fortuitous escape hatch for that PR debacle, and a new and brilliant way to make more money!
Chipper CEO Ham Serunjogi tweeted a day earlier that he would be happy to donate money to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.
Just installed Starlink and quite impressed with initial speeds & ease of setup. Most excited about its potential to bring internet access to remote & rural areas that lack infrastructure. @elonmusk I’d be glad to commit $$ to donate Starlink to schools & hospitals in Uganda. pic.twitter.com/zsab7ESBUd
— Ham Serunjogi (@HSerunjogi) October 16, 2022
Musk jumped on it and asked if anyone else would be interested to donate Starlink to places in need.
Are there others that want to donate Starlinks to places in need?
Without waiting for a poll or positive response from his legion of fans, the SpaceX CEO announced 6 minutes later that SpaceX will add a donate option for Starlink.
Ok, we will add a donate option to Starlink
It took Elon Musk only 6 minutes to realise the genius of the idea. A Starlink donation option would kill two birds with one stone.
Not only would it absolve him of the need to (partially) donate to Ukraine or Iran, or impoverished communities, SpaceX gets to financially benefit from those donations, AND reap the PR benefits on top of that!
That’s a pay nothing, and get all three FREE deal right there! What is there not to like?
Read more : Elon Musk Withdraws Demand For Starlink Funding!
Elon Musk + SpaceX Do Not Need A Starlink Donation Option!
Call me a cynic, but this is nothing more than a ploy to enrich SpaceX by squeezing the common people to donate Starlink.
Of course, we don’t yet know how the Starlink donation option will work – it was just a declaration of intent. But neither Elon Musk nor SpaceX actually need to add a Starlink donation option.
SpaceX received and continue to receive tens of millions of dollars in donations to provide Starlink to Ukraine, and we know that because their letter of demand leaked inconvenient details – some 85% of Starlink terminals were donated by third party entities like:
- USAID – about $3 million on hardware and services
- Poland : almost 9,000 Starlink terminals
- US : almost 1,700 terminals
In other words – there are already institutions donating vast amounts of money to fund Starlink for such “places in need”. Elon Musk himself can fund a lot of CSR projects with his wealth of over $200 BILLION, even if he ends up buying Twitter.
Elon Musk didn’t become a multi-billionaire by donating his money; and despite signing the Giving Pledge in 2012, he has done very little of it.
What is clear though is that neither SpaceX nor Elon Musk need us common folks trying to make ends meet, to donate Starlink.
Read more : SpaceX Will No Longer Pay For Starlink In Ukraine!
Why Is Ham Serunjogi Even Asking For A Starlink Donation Option?
I don’t even understand why Ham Serunjogi is publicly asking Elon Musk if there’s a way to donate Starlink to schools and hospitals in Uganda.
As far as I can tell – SpaceX hasn’t even applied for regulatory approval for Starlink in Uganda. So donating to Uganda is a non-starter, the question moot. Pointless.
But if Ham Serunjogi or any other rich technopreneur wants to help connect “places in need” under Starlink coverage, they can simply order and pay for Starlink. As the Nike motto says – Just do it!
Unless the purpose is to get some nice PR without actually doing anything, or heavens forbid – to give Elon Musk a way to switch the topic away from SpaceX’s less than heroic donations to Ukraine.
Here I lay to rest my cynicism, in hopes that I’m wrong, and Ham Serunjogi and other rich people will do their bit to bring Internet connectivity to people who don’t yet have access.
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