Elon Musk, father of 10, donated $10 million to fund fertility research project: Report

Elon Musk has fathered 10 children in all, one of whom died shortly after birth. (File photo)

Elon Musk, who has fathered 10 children, donated $10 million to a fertility and population research project, Bloomberg reported. The world's richest person has been vocal about his belief that the world needs to have more babies.

As per the report, the money was given by The Musk Foundation to the University of Texas at Austin in 2021 for its Population Wellbeing Initiative (PWI) -- a joint project of the University's Population Research Center and its economics department which looks into fertility, the future of the population, and economic growth.

The PWI has projected that based on declining fertility rates, "humanity is four-fifths over," and unless there is a reversal, it's possible "that humanity depopulates with cruelty."

Elon Musk had also funded a two-day PWI conference last October, but the group didn't disclose his involvement to the academics who flew in from across the country, the Bloomberg report stated.

The 52-year-old billionaire had once said, "A collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far." And after the news broke of his having fathered twins with a top executive at his company Neuralink,  Musk tweeted: "Doing my best to help the underpopulation crisis."

Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming

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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2022

Elon Musk has fathered 10 children in all, one of whom died shortly after birth. After losing his firstborn son Nevada Alexander Musk, Musk had twins Griffin and Vivian with author Justine Wilson in 2004.

The former couple also has triplet sons -- Kai, Saxon and Damian -- who were born two years later in 2006.

With singer Grimes, Musk has a son named X Æ A-12, whom they welcomed in May 2020. They also have a daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, who was born via surrogacy in December 2021.

Read more: Elon Musk says he's a 'rare exception' as a rich person with several kids