Ashton Kutcher has a big surprise for Ellen DeGeneres—and it came with six zeros.
The actor surprised the daytime host when he stopped by the set Wednesday to deliver some unexpected news. When the star made his arrival, he asked DeGeneres what she has been up to. "I'm getting ready to go on vacation," she answered with hesitation. "I'm going to Africa to start building the campus. I'm going to look at where I'm going to build my campus to save the mountain gorillas."
DeGeneres was referencing The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, which Portia de Rossi gifted her famous wife for her 60th birthday. She also set up The Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund, which the campus is part of.
Well, now that she mentioned it, Kutcher had something to share on the subject of the fund. After bringing out Hollywood manager Guy Oseary, the two explained how they've been investing in tech companies as Sound Ventures partners and have been working with Ripple, a platform that can transfer money. "They're talking about the ethic of this company and this platform and how they actually really care about being an ethical company and giving a portion of this platform away to people that are doing good in the world," Kutcher described a conversation he had with the company's founders.
Well, one of those people is DeGeneres. After Kutcher learned about her birthday gift and how she would eventually need some help with it, Kutcher realized he needed to do something.
"You never ask anyone for help ever," the actor noted. Oseary was in agreement. "I promised you on that call [on your birthday] that I'd be there to help you and [Ashton and I] are brothers and we're here to help you," he told her.
"You're always thinking about everyone else and we wanted to show you that people are thinking about you," Kutcher added. "So, on behalf of Ripple, we'd like to give you $4 million."
DeGeneres was awestruck as her eyes began to well up.
"Usually people come out with the big, giant check and do the big giant check thing, but we can actually transfer it into Rwandan franks right now right here and all we have to do is push this button and it's in your account," Kutcher further explained as he held his phone up to her.
"I'd like to push it," DeGeneres joked. "I'd like to push it real good."
Needless to say, the star was overwhelmed by the generous donation. "Oh my God—that was the most amazing thing," she said. "I love you both so much—you know that."