Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has pledged to donate $1 million towards a tree-planting campaign launched by YouTube star Jimmy 'MrBeast' Donaldson, the Independent reports.
The aim for the s0-called #TeamTrees project is to plant 20 million trees around the globe by 2020, with each $1 donation "planting" one tree. The donations go to the Arbor Day Foundation, a US-based organisation dedicated to planting trees.
It all started back in May when Mr Beast asked what he should do to celebrate his 20 millionth subscriber.
"I was gonna give him 20 million pennies but I procrastinated and I think it’s too late to get them in time," he tweeted.
One fan suggested that he plant 20 million trees to represent each of his subscribers. Since then, Mr Beast has worked with other content creators and the Arbor Day Foundation to create the #TeamTrees campaign.
Over the last few days, the initiative has gained a great deal of traction, particularly after a number of other prominent YouTubers, including Beauty YouTuber Jeffree Star, made significant donations.
Incredibly, it managed to reach $5 million in its first 48 hours and almost $8 million in total so far.
When Marques Brownlee explained in a tweet that its fundraising effort "goes straight to the Arbor Day Foundation for planting a tree somewhere 'in a forest of high need' around the globe," Musk, who has since changed his handle to 'Treelon', responded: "Ok, sounds legit, will donate 1M trees."
Musk showed interest in the tree-planting campaign on Monday, asking MrBeast about the kind of trees being planted as part of the initiative. In response, the YouTuber explained to Tesla co-founder that the trees are being planted on every continent except Antarctica and that exact type depends on its exact location.
Others who donated to the cause include the CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, who donated enough for 150,000 trees, MrBeast himself who contributed enough 100,002, and DJ Alan Walker who pledged 100,000 trees.
