Faux generosity: How Bill Gates bought his power and influence

Post by Joe-Z » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 8:49 PM UTC

ve55 wrote: post #3

>if Gates is so committed to giving his money away, why does he keep getting richer? >he should not be viewed as a hero. All billionaires should be viewed as sick in the head. Is this really worth posting on HN? Sounds like a great way to disencentivize philanthropy, reminding me yet again of https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/07/29/against-against-billio...

Post by Joe-Z » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 9:28 PM UTC

ve55 wrote: post #12

Joe-Z wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you know what? Building massive empires while evading taxes, exploiting unregulated markets or down-right not adhering to existing law and then relying on „philanthropy“ to make the world a better place should be disincentivized. That said Bill & Melinda Gates do seem genuine in their efforts and I think it‘s great what they‘re doing. They just shouldn‘t have been able to obtain such obscene amounts of wealth in…

If Bill Gates had donated 100% of his wealth the instant he became a billionaire, his total amount donated would be 1B, and then he would be broke. Alternatively, if he holds onto his MSFT position and donates over the course of his life, his total amount donated will be >100B.

Post by jeramyRR » Fri, Dec 06, 2019, 10:20 PM UTC

johnsimer wrote: post #14

jeramyRR wrote: post #10

I don't believe Bill Gates has all this money on hand. He'd have to sell massive amounts of shares to actually hold his wealth. Wouldn't selling his shares to actually obtain that wealth damage the businesses for which the shares are for?

No, there'd be buyers for his shares, at the market value determined by the performance and intrinsic value of Microsoft The value of Microsoft has to do with the performance of its business, not the makeup of its investors