Dude, it doesn't matter how rich he is. He gave away his own money to the people who are making him rich as a gesture of thanks and goodwill. WTF would you find anything to belittle that?
I was not impressed by his level of frugalness, and indeed he seems to understate the role of the community he rejects in his family's success, and likewise refuses to give back to that community meaningfully for the favor.
That is the whole point of work and taxes, and I think some people fail to see the connection between work and everything that is around them. Not that I think we should all be wage slaves, but some humility when living off the work of others would seem fair.
He may ask for the money, you may consider his salary and decide not to donate and everybody goes his way. The comments here smell like there is a lot of acute jealousy floating around...
I think his overarching point is that these people (by and large) do NOT do anything 'significant' with their millions. They don't even participate in a part of society that is useful beyond making ridiculous amounts of money.
That was why I believe he highlights that he has started speaking to the less fortunate and trying to 'make a difference' towards the end of the article.
Edit: Not to say this guy still doesn't sound like a total twat. Look at how he ends with a sales pitch...
He's been rich a long time. People around him may encourage his 'messageboard moderator from 2002' brand of humour, but it falls horribly flat if he takes one step outside his echo chamber.
I don't get what makes this particular use of wealth any worse than any other way rich people spend money. He did it because he wanted to, not to rub it in people's faces at all.
People are asking to give him money in a way that makes him emotionally uncomfortable, so he's turning their money down. Yep, he's professional alright.
I totally get why people act this way. Because it's Very Important That Everyone Knows What I Think.
But there is no inequity or conflict of interest here. None of that about being trapped in a capitalist economy is to the point here. He has probably a couple million dollars in his bank account that wasn't there before, and the deal was to not talk publicly about internals (which includes promotions process, internal motivations and decision-making, etc).
yeah but it reads a little like he puts himself above others (e.g. the students here). He also did not sign the giving pledge, although he justified this by saying he already gave too much to his children for it to work - I cannot argue with these semantics but it's not a good look, nonetheless.
As a matter of fact we should stop revering multi billionares. There definitely should be a comeback of the term stinkin rich.
The guy cashed out enough to pay off his entire mortgage and is acting like that's a tough decision. Millions of Americans would love to have that "problem". Millions of people hate their jobs. They don't have the opportunity to just walk away from it, as they often have a family to support.
And then he has the gall to ask for donations? Seriously? Can this post be laden with slightly more privilege?
meanwhile the sycophants on his payroll are no doubt telling him he's doing a grand job
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