Riley Keough Stuns Billionaires at Manhattan Gala: Calls Out Zuckerberg and Musk on Greed, Donates $8M to Child Hunger Relief

New York — November 10, 2025 — In a moment that has reverberated from the gilded halls of Manhattan’s elite to the viral feeds of social media, actress and Elvis Presley granddaughter Riley Keough delivered a searing indictment of billionaire excess at the annual Global Philanthropy Summit gala Saturday night. Addressing a room teeming with the world’s wealthiest — including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla/SpaceX founder Elon Musk — Keough transformed a scripted acceptance speech into a raw call for accountability, freezing the crowd with a direct challenge: “If you can spend billions on rockets and metaverses, you can spend millions feeding children.”

The event, held at the opulent Pierre Hotel overlooking Central Park, drew 500 attendees from Forbes’ billionaire list, raising over $50 million for global causes. Organized by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, the summit promised “conversations on impact investing.” Instead, Keough’s unfiltered remarks turned it into a reckoning, captured on video and exploding online with #KeoughCallsOut trending at No. 1 on X by midnight.

Keough, 36, ascended the stage in a sleek black Chanel gown — a nod to her recent ambassadorship — to accept an award for her work with the Presley Family Foundation, which supports music education and family literacy. The room, aglow with crystal chandeliers and tables laden with caviar canapés, buzzed with polite applause. But as Keough gripped the microphone, her voice — steady yet laced with Presley fire — cut through the murmurs.

“I’ve inherited a legacy of music and memory from my grandfather,” she began, referencing Elvis’s enduring $500 million estate, which she oversees as trustee of her late mother Lisa Marie Presley’s trust, including the iconic Graceland mansion and a 15% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises. “But legacy isn’t just about preserving the past. It’s about feeding the future. Tonight, we celebrate philanthropy, but let’s be honest: For too many in this room, it’s a hobby, not a habit.”

Her gaze then locked on Zuckerberg and Musk, seated at a prominent table with their spouses, Priscilla Chan and an empty chair beside the X executive. Cameras panned to the duo: Zuckerberg, 41, fiddled with his napkin, his expression a mask of discomfort; Musk, 54, offered a wry half-smile before averting his eyes to his phone. “Mark, Elon,” Keough continued, her tone sharpening, “you pour fortunes into virtual worlds and Mars missions — noble pursuits, perhaps. But while children in this city, this country, go to bed hungry, those billions could end food insecurity tomorrow. If you can dream of colonizing space, why can’t you fund a school lunch program here on Earth?”

The room fell into a stunned hush. Attendees — a who’s who of tech titans, hedge fund moguls, and Hollywood A-listers including Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio — shifted uncomfortably. One guest, anonymous in a post-event interview with Vanity Fair, whispered: “It was like she’d pulled the fire alarm on their egos. No one’s ever gone bare-knuckle at a gala like that.” The critique echoed broader 2025 scrutiny of billionaire giving. Musk’s Musk Foundation holds just 3.6% of his $421 billion net worth in assets, with critics slamming its minimal payouts amid his $44 billion X acquisition. Zuckerberg and Chan’s initiative, pledged to donate 99% of their Meta shares (valued at $45 billion in 2015), has funneled billions into education and health but faced backlash for prioritizing their LLC over traditional charities, including a pivot away from DEI and political spending after Trump-era GOP attacks.

Keough didn’t stop at rebuke. In a bombshell pivot, she revealed: “Words are cheap. That’s why tonight, from my family’s trust and my own earnings, I’m donating $8 million to No Kid Hungry — to provide meals for 10 million children over the next year.” The figure, drawn from her $20 million net worth — bolstered by $1.5 million from Daisy Jones & the Six and her Elvis inheritance — drew gasps of admiration. She closed with a mic-drop flourish: “Greed isn’t strength — compassion is.” As she stepped down, the applause erupted, thunderous and conflicted.

Social media ignited. The clip, shared by attendee Billie Eilish — who earlier that week urged billionaires at the Variety Hitmakers Brunch to “give away your wealth” with Zuckerberg in earshot — amassed 12 million views in hours. X users hailed it as “the speech billionaires didn’t want you to hear,” with #CompassionOverRockets spawning memes of Musk’s Starship juxtaposed against empty lunch trays. One viral post from activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez read: “Riley Keough just reminded the 1% that real power serves, not hoards. Who’s with her?” Critics, however, accused her of “virtue signaling from inherited privilege,” pointing to the Presley estate’s $100 million annual revenue from tourism and merch.

The targets remained mum publicly. Zuckerberg posted a cryptic Meta Stories update Sunday: a photo of his family’s Maui home with the caption “Building for tomorrow.” Musk, true to form, quipped on X: “Compassion is great — so is reusable rocketry. Both feed the future. ” But insiders say the barbs landed. A source close to Chan told The New York Times: “Priscilla was proud of Riley’s fire, but it stung. Mark’s been doubling down on private donations since.”

Keough’s activism isn’t new. Since inheriting Graceland in 2023 amid a bitter legal feud with grandmother Priscilla Presley — settled with a $1 million payout to the matriarch — she’s channeled estate proceeds into causes like literacy programs and mental health, honoring her brother Benjamin’s 2020 suicide. Her $8 million gift, verified by No Kid Hungry Monday, targets urban food deserts, partnering with NYC schools for universal meals. “This isn’t about shaming,” Keough told People post-gala. “It’s about sharing. My family’s legacy taught me: Talent without heart is just noise.”

The speech has broader ripples. At a time when U.S. child hunger affects 13 million kids amid 2025’s 7% inflation spike, Keough’s words amplify calls for billionaire taxes, echoing Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s “ultra-millionaire tax.” Philanthropy experts like NYU’s Dr. Maya Harlan praise it as a “puncture to performative giving,” noting galas often raise awareness over action. Yet it risks alienating donors: Summit organizers reportedly fielded complaints, with one tech exec pulling a $5 million pledge.

For Keough, the fallout is fuel. Fresh off directing her Hulu series Thelma and narrating her mother’s memoir From Here to the Great Unknown, she’s eyeing a documentary on family legacies and inequality. “Elvis sang about the American dream,” she reflected. “But dreams die hungry. Let’s wake up.”

As clips recirculate — defying calls from conservative outlets to “cancel the Presley heiress” — Keough’s mic drop endures. In a city of skyscrapers built on ambition, she reminded the summit: True icons lift others, not just launch themselves higher. Whether it sparks a giving surge or a billionaire backlash, one thing’s clear: Riley Keough just rocked their world.