this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2025
1034 points (97.9% liked)

News

31889 readers
2521 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Paywall removed https://archive.is/WGWDo

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 331 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (16 children)

O’Kelley’s [sic] says billionaires represent “such an incredibly ludicrous waste of money in a world where there’s so many people who don’t have that,” but he says actually being one is also “othering”—separating you from the limits and consequences that define normal life. “There’s something about keeping connected to normalcy that is really, really important,” the entrepreneur explains. “I don’t want a yacht and I don’t ever want to be able to be without consequences. I think that’s the biggest risk, is, how can we be accountable when we have so much money we can buy anything?”

He gets it. Past a certain point, wealth erodes your humanity. I think I'd have picked $100M too - at a safe 4% return that's $4M per year, plenty for anybody to live on but not megayacht money.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 67 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Motherfucking $4MM total is enough to live on with a return like that.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 152 points 1 week ago (44 children)

Sure, but choosing to live on $160k/yr would be a bit much when you're starting with $1.6B. I can't fault him for still wanting to enjoy being wealthy instead of upper-middle-class and definitely don't think it's reasonable to complain that giving away 95% of his wealth is somehow not enough.

load more comments (44 replies)
[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Sadly, not necessarily true. In the US, all it takes is one family member with a severe chronic illness tovery quickly erode that to the point that you are back at work. I think $10MM is the magic number but $100MM is a really good number to ensure that you and.your loved ones are taken care of.

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 31 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Plenty for a normal yacht, the kind you can sail by yourself or with a partner. Megayachts are basically private cruise ships that need a full staff to sail. Even if I had the money I wouldn’t want that!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] rozodru@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

I've always said If I could have enough where I could purchase in cash a cottage in a small cottage town here in Canada with a top of the line internet connection and I'd never have to work or worry about money for the rest of my life I'd be happy. what would I do? nothing. I'd pursue my hobby projects, more FOSS development, gaming, painting, build model kits, drink beer, eat whatever I wanted, and socialize with as few people as possible.

That's all i want. I just want enough money right now to achieve that.

load more comments (13 replies)
[–] ideonek@piefed.social 106 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

I reserve my praises until I learn how exactly he gave away the money. Family-controlled foundations that only do political lobbing while avoiding taxes are a thing .

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 68 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

I wasn't able to find details with a quick search, but it sounds like it wasn't his own foundation:

After the AppNexus sale, O’Kelley and his wife carefully chose which causes to support. Their donations focus on education, social justice, technology access, and healthcare initiatives.

https://www.ceotodaymagazine.com/2025/08/could-you-give-away-1-5-billion-like-this-ceo/

Perhaps the only good billionaire is one who isn't.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

well political lobbying would be good if it's lobbying for socialism i'd say

[–] ideonek@piefed.social 20 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I would argue that legalized corruption is bad, even if you happen to agree with the cause.

[–] shplane@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago

Well, the current method of taking the high ground to make change for good ain’t exactly working out too well.

[–] lapping6596@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

Lobby for removing that legalized corruption?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Nightlight17776@lemmy.ca 60 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Wait is this really a good rich person? I have to think something's up

[–] derry@midwest.social 49 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (4 children)

Gen Xer, we're mostly cool. Still some ass hats but most of us try to be cool, do the right things

[–] SirSamuel@lemmy.world 49 points 1 week ago

Oh, sorry, forgot you were here

[–] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 week ago (3 children)

most of us try to be cool

i'm also gen X. your experience doesn't match mine

[–] derry@midwest.social 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Sorry man. I hope you're ok.

[–] solsangraal@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 week ago (4 children)

not really, but thanks. for some reason gen x went "i love fascism."

https://williamfleitch.medium.com/why-did-generation-x-go-so-hard-for-trump-ab5ce5ac8659

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/heres-the-generation-that-went-strongest-for-trump-and-the-surprising-one-that-shifted-left/ar-AA1tTVEc

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/gen-x-politics-explained-republicans.html

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/why-gen-x-went-maga/

personally: a lot of the dudes i grew up with are absolutely full-blown "my purpose in life is to be better than everyone else, and trump is going to give me that" mentality

again, i'm glad that your experience is better, but please don't assume that it's across the board

the maga fascist cult is a fucking cancer that afflicts every age group. make people afraid, give them an "enemy" to hate, profit

fucking nazis

load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] 9488fcea02a9@sh.itjust.works 52 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Should have shared the money with the workers who built the company into a $1.6B valuation and worth acquisition.

[–] meliaesc@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Jesus Christ, it's never good enough for you, why even bother trying.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 23 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Just because he gave it away, doesn't remove his responsibility for how he "earned" it.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] adminofoz@lemmy.cafe 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

At the end of the day, stolen wages are still stolen wages.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 41 points 1 week ago

If only he believed in himself, he could have been a billionaire…

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 38 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Good for him.

Raise the taxes, remove the cap on FICA contributions, implement universal healthcare.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 30 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I'd take just one single measly Canadian million dollars, buy a ~300-400K small house far from the city with enough land to have peace and quiet, and maybe try a greenhouse for vegetables.

That leaves enough money with what I already have to cover never working again, various moving expenses, some repairs and renos, and maybe the occasional weekend transexual escort in my whirlpool.

[–] Horsey@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (11 children)

600K definitely can’t cover your incidentals over 20+ years.

load more comments (11 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Mike_Hunt@lemmy.ml 30 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

if i ruled the world no single person would have more than 1bn, hence why it would never happen. (id be very unqualified)

[–] blargh513@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Most of the assclowns running shit now are horribly unfit. At least you have some perspective.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] solrize@lemmy.ml 23 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Russian Nobleman paradox. 100 million is still a lot though. Company was AppNexus, name rings a bell. Sold to AT&T.

[–] bobs_monkey@lemmy.zip 36 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Even still, $100m is more than enough to live a very comfortable life and secure your family's future. No one needs $1b.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social 16 points 1 week ago

100 million is still a lot though.

To be fair, the article does mention that he's considering using that as a way to fund his current startup if it ever needs a cash injection, rather than turning straight to more VCs, which is probably good in the long run in terms of reducing how much the company could have to cater toward predatory investors over customers, so I'd consider at least part of his remaining wealth just a means to fund a separate venture from his private life, but still, he probably does have more than enough even after that.

Also, I'd never heard of the Russian Nobleman paradox before, but I looked it up and it seems interesting. Thanks for sharing it.

[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

I'm not criticizing him for keeping enough to keep him and his family comfortable for a few generations. Giving away a comma is a big request that he did without needing to be asked.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] Vile_port_aloo@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week ago

How many more people/companies do we need to see doing this before we see change?

I am praising the action not the individual :)

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

Oh. I thought this was The Onion for a second when I saw the title.

[–] vga@sopuli.xyz 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

$100 million invested into dividend stock would gross him $1-5 million per year. About 1/3 of that will be paid in taxes, depending on what kind of dividends those are.

Me personally, I think I'd be happy with $10 million but I guess you get hungry when there's a lot of food in front of you.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] jacecomix@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Just a general reminder to anyone to use a site like Charity Navigator to find good causes to donate to.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

He's not wrong. Being circled by scavengars like some kind of dying leviathan is not a sane way to live.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The question is: does it bring lasting benefits to the people?

If he gives away a billion once, eventually it will be consumed and then we're stuck in the same situation again. The rich must give money away repeatedly, that's the only way to sustain society going forward. For that, solid and robust policy changes will have to be implemented.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›