You should read the book the OP mentioned. Most of the charities these billionaires donate to are also under their control. So the beneficiary and the benefacto

You should read the book the OP mentioned. Most of the charities these billionaires donate to are also under their control. So the beneficiary and the benefactor are one and the same. Sometimes the moons align and the billionaire, the charity, and the public good are all served. Other times you get the Trumps' version of charity. And in some cases they can be harmful, such as the founder of Mozilla donating to charities that were anti CA Prop 8. These charities are a way to bypass the democratic method of funding public goods. I don't believe the US military budget should be as big as it is. Yet I pay taxes that fund it whether I agree to it or not. If I was a millionaire I could fund a religious school that taught white Jesus as the one true religion instead of funding secular state schools. The bigger problem is the people who have created many of these problems now want to be in control of the solutions.