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Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

bloomberg.com

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Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#61

Post by primitivesuave »

omgsean wrote: post #38
primitivesuave wrote: post #21

This reads like a hit piece, and a poorly executed attempt if so. This is standard practice and not uncommon. If we’re going to excoriate billionaires for putting their name on a foundation, shouldn’t Gates, DeVos, and others also be held to the same scrutiny? The article throws in an SBF comparison simply because both parties support the same brand of altruism.

>If we’re going to excoriate billionaires for putting their name on a foundation, shouldn’t Gates, DeVos, and others also be held to the same scrutiny? Yes.

I actually agree with you here- my point being that I’d be far more compelled by research into overpaid administrators, short-sighted donations, etc.

Would be keen to read an article where the $500k yearly salary of the charity’s CEO is examined (this is the case for most major charities looking for “the cure”)

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#63

Post by heartbreak »

c22 wrote: post #40
brookst wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All true and a perfectly valid model. But also try: If I were incredibly wealthy and obsessed with running the score up, I’d see any taxes or other loss of wealth as a threat to my ego. If my tax accountants came to me and said I could have a greater net worth by founding a charity optimized for my personal benefit, I’d happily shuffle money there rather than paying taxes. I think that’s also a valid model. I don’t h…

I think he's probably optimizing for both. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Anyone that wealthy has substantial influence over the design of the game itself.

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#64

Post by brookst »

c22 wrote: post #40
brookst wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All true and a perfectly valid model. But also try: If I were incredibly wealthy and obsessed with running the score up, I’d see any taxes or other loss of wealth as a threat to my ego. If my tax accountants came to me and said I could have a greater net worth by founding a charity optimized for my personal benefit, I’d happily shuffle money there rather than paying taxes. I think that’s also a valid model. I don’t h…

I think he's probably optimizing for both. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

I don’t see how a charity can be simultaneously optimized for benefiting its founder and also benefiting people other than its founder.

Different goals, different choices.

Unless you’re suggesting that Musk is such an egomaniac that he thinks the best thing a charity can do is help him personally?

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#66

Post by maerF0x0 »

anderber wrote: post #45
andreygrehov wrote: post #30

Regular mortals maximize their 401k contributions, use Backdoor Roth IRA, FSA, optimize for long-term capital gains, etc. Is this all legal? Absolutely. The point is - nobody likes paying taxes - people try to minimize whatever it takes. Billionaires do the same. Instead of opening Flexible Spending Account, they start a charity. Instead of using Roth IRA loophole, they start off-shore corporations. Basically, they d…

They seem pretty good at getting their taxes down to zero, while us mere mortals have to be happy with deductions.

Mere mortals are often paying 0 tax on their investments(ie deferred). Same as the ultra wealthy do.

The issue is being a W2 wage slave, err i mean employee

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#67

Post by mattrighetti »

c22 wrote: post #8

If I had money to donate I'd donate it to the charity I thought would be most effective at helping the cause I cared most about. If I had enough money to create my own charity it would be focused on the cause I cared most about. My giant ego and hubris would make it hard for me to come to the conclusion that a charity I created wasn't the most effective at its goals, even if that didn't happen to be the case.

"Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else’s resources as carefully as he uses his own."

Re: Musk’s $5.7B Mystery Gift Went to His Own Charity

#68

Post by unsupp0rted »

codeulike wrote: post #39

So in the same way that Bill Gates donates to his own foundation? https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/13/bill-gates-donates-20-billio...

Bill Gates is on the good guys team now, since he's not actively and aggressively running a company. Musk is still a bad guy. You'd have to wait at least a decade or two for Musk to get old enough to stop being interested in actively running one or more companies and thus be on the good guys team.
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