Jeff Bezos’ Sudden Interest in Philanthropy Won’t Erase the Misconduct That Allowed Him to Amass All Those Billions of Dollars.
President Theodore Roosevelt was already pointing out this problem at the beginning of the 20th century.
In August 2022, when Sam Bankman-Fried was still a few billion dollars after accumulating more than $30 billion in wealth at the beginning of 2022, the boss of cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX promised to continue to spend most of his income on "rescuing" struggling crypto companies and on charity.
After FTX's spectacular bankruptcy, SBF will no longer be able to give them anything, since it has nothing left. In the space of three days, he went from a fortune still valued at $16 billion on November 8, 2022, to zero on November 11, 2022. Something that had probably never been seen in history at such a pace.
No risk of bankruptcy with Jeff Bezos on the other hand. The founder of Amazon and the space company Blue Origin, “savior” of the Washington Post, has just announced on CNN that he plans to donate, during his lifetime, most of his fortune to philanthropic works.
Once the richest man in the world, dethroned by Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter) after a 45% drop in the e-commerce giant on Wall Street, Jeff Bezos is now in fourth place (124 billion dollars), according to Bloomberg.
Such a commitment is new for one of the most criticized bosses in the United States, even though he created, in 2020, the Earth Fund for the environment, endowed with 10 billion dollars.
The 58-year-old billionaire had not signed up - unlike SBF! - to the initiative “The Giving Pledge”, launched in 2010 by Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) and Melinda and Bill Gates (Microsoft). The list includes 236 "pledgers" mostly Americans. Very few Europeans are on it.
In 2018, inspired by “The Giving Pledge,” the chairmen of Axa and Sanofi, Denis Duverne and Serge Weinberg, launched an appeal to the richest to donate “at least 10% of their income or wealth for philanthropic purposes.” But this approach is not part of the European culture, even though it has made it possible to partially compensate for the weaknesses of the American state in the areas of health, education, or art.
Not without some messianic accents on the part of Rockefeller, Frick, or Carnegie, who went so far as to defend the abolition of the inheritance.
The munificence of these magnates did not move President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909): “The expenditure of these fortunes on the charity can never compensate for the misbehavior that allowed them to be amassed.” For some had used any means to break strikes and eliminate competition.
This brutality is echoed at GAFAM, where union-busting and elimination of even the slightest rival is the rule. And what do the 169 billion donated by the top 25 American philanthropists, according to Forbes, weigh in the face of rising inequality? Very little!
These sudden philanthropic interests are probably mainly aimed at redeeming their image with the general public. Not sure that this is enough!
Some reading
Selfless Do-Gooder on the Front, Greedy Lawless Entrepreneur on the Back — This Is the Story of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Downfall. Never has a large fortune vanished as quickly as his. 16 billion dollars gone in 3 days.
Claiming to Be the Champion of Privacy, Apple Is Now Being Sued for Tracking Its Users Without Their Consent. The deactivation of data sharing with Apple would be illusory.
New York Fed Launches Digital Dollar PoC Project — It’s Time to Get Interested in Buying BTC in No-KYC Mode. It’s time to take responsibility for the safety of the fruits of your labor.
Bitcoin and KYC Policies — Everything You Need To Know (Risks, How To Protect Yourself, …). Whatever your choice, the important thing is to understand where the risks lie.
Four Essential Questions on Bitcoin Privacy and Anonymity Answered. An attempt to end the confusion of some newcomers to this world.