Did Jared Goff reject $270M offer from Elon Musk at charity event?

On May 31, 2025, the Facebook page Detroit Gridiron Heroes published a post claiming that Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff had turned down a $270 million offer from billionaire Elon Musk at a charity event.

Snopes received emails from readers asking about the rumor after spotting the viral Facebook post, which stated: "Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff shocked the world by rejecting a staggering $270 million offer from billionaire Elon Musk, delivered during a high-profile charity event. Jared Goff's bold response—'Keep it and spend it on something that actually helps people!'—left the audience speechless and ignited a firestorm of reactions online. What drove Jared Goff to turn down such a life-changing sum, and how will this defiant stance shape his legacy?"

(Detroit Gridiron Heroes/Facebook)

Despite generating over 10,000 reactions, 1,400 comments and 1,100 shares, the story is false and we've rated it accordingly.

The Facebook post directed users to a blog post on tintinhthanh.online, a site Snopes has previously flagged for spreading false sports stories. The article contained detailed but entirely fictional accounts of the supposed encounter, including invented quotes from unnamed sources claiming Goff had concerns about the offer's "vague social benefit claims."

Among the fabrications was a supposed response from Musk on X (formerly Twitter), where he allegedly wrote: "Didn't expect that, but I respect Jared's honesty. The funds will be reallocated to charitable causes." Our investigation found no such post on Musk's X account.

Our research uncovered that this story had been evolving over several weeks. The first instance appeared on April 2, when the Facebook page Detroit Lions Nation posted about Goff refusing a more modest $10 million from Musk, though this version attracted minimal attention. Another Facebook page, Great Lakes Warriors, recycled the claim on April 8, also citing a blog post on tintinhthanh.online. By late May, the alleged offer had inflated to $270 million and achieved viral status.

Despite extensive searches across major search engines including Google and Bing, we found zero coverage of this supposed incident from legitimate media outlets. The narrative exhibited multiple warning signs of fabrication: no concrete date or location for the charity event, invented celebrity reactions, and an eye-catching monetary figure that mirrors the over $270 million Musk contributed to political campaigns in 2024.

Authentic recent coverage of Goff has centered on his preparations for the 2025 NFL season under new offensive coordinator John Morton. None of these verified reports mentioned any encounter or business proposal involving Musk.