No he's not doing what Bill Gates did he disdains charity and sees it as stupid virtue-signaling empathy. It's really doing Elon a huge service here to make that comparison. This is to get public support for SpaceX.
My past analogy for me overly protective policies was hypothesizing IBM stock was given to all Americans. This would create a public incentive to create anti-competitive policy to protect that company. I fear this move goes beyond mere superficial public support.