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The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

independent.co.uk

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Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#161

Post by _the_inflator »

helterskelter wrote: post #6

I don't know much about this guy, but I remember reading an interview with him maybe 15 years ago where he was asked if his lifestyle had changed since he came into money and if he bought a new house or anything, and his answer was basically something like: "Not really, and I've already got good water pressure where I'm at, what else do I need?" I can't help but like his attitude.

Like a Warren Buffet. Same house, same car, or Ray Kroc: Look after the customer, and the business will take care of itself.

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#162

Post by nunez »

zuzululu wrote: post #15
WalterBright wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

America is the place for very few people to get wealthy relatively compared to the rest is more accurate. I don't know how long this asymmetric upside down pyramid structure will hold. Monopoly on violence requires participants to believe in its continuity, any fracture in perception no matter how small, will create an increasingly chaotic redistribution effect.

Disagree. I have gripes with my country right now, but it's impossible to ignore how much easier to make and save a lot of money here in the US compared to other places.

First, it's so easy to start a business in the US.

$1000 (maybe less?) gets you an LLC or an S-Corp, properly done with an accountant. $200/mo gets you a virtual office or a coworking space. Tax code is also friendly to small businesses. Healthcare is the only disadvantage, though you can get on group plans to work around that.

If you have an idea, it's easy (well, easier) to scale it in the US.

Actually, going back to taxes. Tax in the US is CHEAP compared to other developed countries. I met someone from Denmark some time ago that told my wife and I that they left to escape 50% taxes. Here, the worst you'll do is ~38%, federal, state and city combined. This means that you can make great money as a worker bee depending on the industry.

All of this is a major reason why so many people all over the world come to the US, make their money (with enough to send to family back home) and move back.

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#163

Post by bluebarbet »

nunez wrote: post #149

> He doesn’t own a car and takes public transportation in New York City. Mr. Newmark gets it! I hope he's as nice in person as he comes off in this article.

Very on-the-spectrum (PS: and proudly so) IIRC. That has to mitigate the sociopathies that typically accompany great wealth.

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#164

Post by gottorf »

computerex wrote: post #138
gottorf wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are, of course, many ways to measure this, some of which are slightly higher for Germany and some for Mississippi. Many are in the same ballpark, which is pretty crazy to think about. Many of these statistics take into account the taxpayer-funded programs you mentioned. Broadly speaking, the median Mississippian is about as rich as the median German, with the tradeoff being that the Mississippian has greater ac…

Your point is totally and completely wrong. Germany has public benefits that actually matter. Germany's average life expectancy is ahead of Mississippi by *10 years*. Germany ranks as one of the highest in the world in general satisfaction of the people, Mississippi does not.

> Your point is totally and completely wrong. Germany has public benefits that actually matter.

Objectively wrong, because Germany does better in the things that subjectively matter to you?

> Germany's average life expectancy is ahead of Mississippi by 10 years.

Comparing like for like, that gap drops down to 5-6 years and puts Mississippi on par with, say, Thailand or Latvia. Hardly grounds for condemnation.

> Germany ranks as one of the highest in the world in general satisfaction of the people, Mississippi does not.

Those rankings are all stupid, but in most of the ones I've seen, Germany ranks a scant few spots higher than the US. Sure, if Mississippi were a country, the distance would be greater, but how meaningful is it? I just saw one that ranks Saudi Arabia and El Salvador ahead of Spain and Italy[0].

And in any case, why do people keep leaving those satisfactory countries for America?

[0]: https://data.worldhappiness.report/table

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#166

Post by socalgal2 »

Forgeties79 wrote: post #99
dyauspitr wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Giving away money is stupid. With that much money I would rather fund companies that push the frontier on something. If it fails no biggie, if it succeeds it will probably end up employing people and giving them a source of income for life while simultaneously contributing to human progress.

Why wouldn’t you fund nonprofits and artists?

Artists don’t need money. More money is poured into the arts than at any time history.

Motion picture arts, literary arts, video game arts, graphic design arts,

and also at no time has it cost less to get an audience and find supporters. YouTube , TikTok, instagram, twitch, patreon, starsubscribe, gumroad, etc…

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#167

Post by esafak »

computerex wrote: post #132
WalterBright wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Except capitalism is a zero sum game. The two people you talk about that are multimillionaires are lucky. For each person you know that has made it, there are thousands of people that are equally as hardworking/talented but are destined to slum away for the rest of their lives. All human beings deserve to live a happy life. We live in a world where few have accumulated more capital than they could ever spend in their…

Did you consider that people get rich by creating companies that afford people jobs? That is a positive sum game.

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#168

Post by 1970-01-01 »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #117

Craigslist is the pinnacle of web sites. True brutalist web design.

Pinnacle because it was a simple, functional website back when it started in '95. Back when UI design didn't cost millions of dollars with MBs of crap JS clogging things up.

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#169

Post by computerex »

gottorf wrote: post #164
computerex wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your point is totally and completely wrong. Germany has public benefits that actually matter. Germany's average life expectancy is ahead of Mississippi by *10 years*. Germany ranks as one of the highest in the world in general satisfaction of the people, Mississippi does not.

> Your point is totally and completely wrong. Germany has public benefits that actually matter. Objectively wrong, because Germany does better in the things that subjectively matter to you? > Germany's average life expectancy is ahead of Mississippi by 10 years . Comparing like for like, that gap drops down to 5-6 years and puts Mississippi on par with, say, Thailand or Latvia. Hardly grounds for condemnation. > Germ…

> And in any case, why do people keep leaving those satisfactory countries for America?

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2026/...

America used to be a great place to be. To put it in perspective, I myself am an American in the top 5% of earning households. I am strongly considering leaving. The value is no longer here. I don't want to live in a country where my healthcare is conditional, on principal. I don't want to live in a country where the Epstein class is protected.

Re: The founder of Craigslist has given away half a billion dollars

#170

Post by computerex »

esafak wrote: post #167
computerex wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except capitalism is a zero sum game. The two people you talk about that are multimillionaires are lucky. For each person you know that has made it, there are thousands of people that are equally as hardworking/talented but are destined to slum away for the rest of their lives. All human beings deserve to live a happy life. We live in a world where few have accumulated more capital than they could ever spend in their…

Did you consider that people get rich by creating companies that afford people jobs? That is a positive sum game.

[flagged]
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