It surprises me a little to hear that billionaires would even WANT to establish contact with aliens. For one, disregarding the aliens' dispositions towards us,

It surprises me a little to hear that billionaires would even WANT to establish contact with aliens. For one, disregarding the aliens' dispositions towards us, the mere fact of alien contact would probably introduce all kinds of unpredictable behavior, especially in markets. Moreover, once you build scenarios around possible alien intents, it doesn't look good for humanity, much less the billionaires, in some of them. Hostile - enslavement or extermination = no good for markets. Hostile - exploitation = depends on what the aliens want, what they'll do to get it, and how much of it one can control (e.g. 3rd world dictators) Benevolent - capitalist = might actually work out for those who can act as gatekeepers for the alien stuff. Benevolent - socialist = unlikely to grant anyone a monopoly on alien stuff distribution.