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People who are only in for the money would have likely rode their golden parachute out of those companies a long time ago when things first got tough. If someo

People who are only in for the money would have likely rode their golden parachute out of those companies a long time ago when things first got tough. If someone isn't in it for the money, that doesn't therefore mean they're trying to be just generally 'charitable'. Elon clearly wants to be known for facilitating in bringing humanity to the next step (or steps) of its technological future. Pretty much every venture he's done (electric cars, mars colonization, high-speed people movers, chips in brains) have been towards that goal. There aren't charities he can donate to that would do these things, or if there are, they aren't moving as fast as he has been by tackling it himself. Probably at best he could donate to cure some disease like Bill Gates is doing, which, while worthwhile and great, is clearly not something Elon cares about all that much (especially with his kind of shitty views about the Coronavirus pandemic, which I'm sure is mainly because it did its best to put the brakes on all of his ventures).

kevingadd 6y ago
I didn't say donate to charities, I said start one. You even cite an example - Bill Gates doesn't just hand out money, he's involved in organizations with specific mandates, and there's an organization with him and his wife's name on it that does stuff. If Elon wants to change the world there are many options at his disposal other than buying the title "founder" of a for-profit electric company he didn't found
- cableshaft 6y ago
  First, not being motivated only by money doesn't mean he doesn't like money. More money buys more access and more funding to be able to do what he does, and the fame and attention from being one of the richest people in the world (which he had to get that from somewhere in business, he didn't start out a billionaire) lets him direct attention to causes he cares about, say 'Hey look, this is important' and people listen (at least somewhat). If he starts a charity, it's not generating new income so he has to rely on only his own and external donations. It may be enough, with how much he is worth currently, but why not take all the free funny money from investors in the stock market while we're at it? I'm not actually arguing that he's a charitable human being, I'm arguing he's motivated to progress humanity in a technological way (which could have charitable side effects). And either he's the head of a business making that change, or he's funding other companies to be that business, so why not have direct control over it?

kevingadd 6y ago

I didn't say donate to charities, I said start one. You even cite an example - Bill Gates doesn't just hand out money, he's involved in organizations with specific mandates, and there's an organization with him and his wife's name on it that does stuff. If Elon wants to change the world there are many options at his disposal other than buying the title "founder" of a for-profit electric company he didn't found

cableshaft 6y ago
First, not being motivated only by money doesn't mean he doesn't like money. More money buys more access and more funding to be able to do what he does, and the fame and attention from being one of the richest people in the world (which he had to get that from somewhere in business, he didn't start out a billionaire) lets him direct attention to causes he cares about, say 'Hey look, this is important' and people listen (at least somewhat). If he starts a charity, it's not generating new income so he has to rely on only his own and external donations. It may be enough, with how much he is worth currently, but why not take all the free funny money from investors in the stock market while we're at it? I'm not actually arguing that he's a charitable human being, I'm arguing he's motivated to progress humanity in a technological way (which could have charitable side effects). And either he's the head of a business making that change, or he's funding other companies to be that business, so why not have direct control over it?