The Billionaire Boys Club—A Force for Good, or Evil Incarnate?
They’re quirky—sometimes downright creepy—but does this group of (mostly) old white guys do more for the human race than the world’s political leaders? Is it possible they could save us all?
Elon Musk $336 Billion
Jeff Bezos $196 Billion
Bernard Arnault $168 Billion
Bill Gates $137 Billion
Larry Page $130 Billion
Sergey Brin $125 Billion
Mark Zuckerberg $124 Billion
Steve Ballmer $119 Billion
Larry Ellison $117 Billion
Warren Buffet $105 Billion
As is widely reported, these possessors of inconceivable wealth are experts at keeping their tax-paying to a minimum, and their money-making to a maximum. Some of them have even doubled their wealth since the pandemic, as many have struggled. But like them or not, it’s hard not to admit that these guys have done a lot of good.
If we look at Elon Musk and Bill Gates and look at their track record in the last couple of years, it is astonishing what they have accomplished.
We know that they haven’t invented these things, but they allocated their time and wealth in such a way, that has facilitated the following innovations and improvements.
In no particular order they have:
Invented toilets that don’t need a sewerage system
Forced the entire automotive industry to electrify
Eradicated Polio
Invented reusable rockets that can land themselves
Invented 5th generation circular nuclear reactors that are portable and run mostly on nuclear waste.
Made the biggest battery ever, that mitigates power outages in Australia
Musk and Gates have undoubtedly created their wealth based in a world where inequality is rising, and where wealth is accumulating in the upper centile of the population. This is not a system that benefits most people and could be another article topic in itself, but what we are seeing is that these guys—in their alfa dick-measuring contest—are solving a lot of problems that governments have neglected for decades.
It seems to us, that in the race for glory and in the pursuit of a legacy, there are obvious parallels between the competitions between titans and the greater good of humanity.
So, to answer the question—are they a force for good or not? Well, it reminds us of the days of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. These Titans were so competitive that in their older days, they competed in who could give the most money away, and hence become the biggest philanthropist. We see the same dynamic today—the way to leave a legacy is to solve problems, and to earn a lot of money in the same process.
So, we guess the answer is a bit of both… Accumulating and consolidating that much wealth on so few hands shouldn’t be the most productive way of solving the problems of the world—but it seems to be working in our favor in some mystical manner. Maybe it’s because the current political climate isn’t up for the challenge, and we need more entrepreneurial types to solve our problems—who knows…
At the end of the day, we’re not saying this is a good or bad thing, but it’s an interesting time to live in—a lot of technological innovations are happening, and the notion of sustainability has become a matter of concern for the titans of the world.
Well, until next time
Scott and Lennart