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Comment by whack | Hacker News Reader

> "Gates would have had a net worth of more than $150 billion if he’d held onto assets that he’s given away, largely to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."

Sorry Bezos, you've still got some catching up to do. Lifetime earnings are what really count, even if you give it all away to charity.

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Gates does have an ~8 year lead

No shit. The comment you're responding to included the words "catching up"...

I interpreted "catching up" in terms of net worth not age.

Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. I took it the other way. It is rather ambiguous.

I wonder how Gates' charitable givings 8 years ago compare to Bezos' today. I suspect Bezos wouldn't look fantastic by comparison.

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're saying, isn't it closer to 20 years? 1975 and 1994

Why not simply avoid making billions so you don't have to give it all away to assuage your guilt and come out close to neutral?

Influence.

> Why not simply avoid making billions so you don't have to give it all away to assuage your guilt and come out close to neutral?

Because someone else will be making billions ... over your back.

Assuage your guilt?

> 1. To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe: assuage her grief. See Synonyms at relieve.

> 2. To satisfy or appease (hunger or thirst, for example).

> 3. To appease or calm: assuaged his critics.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/assuage

I was asking why the GP thinks assuaging guilt is a motivation here.

It's pretty well documented that a lot of the lavish philanthropy of gilded age barons like Carnegie and Rockefeller was motivated by their guilt and concern about not being able to thread a camel through a needle. I don't know about the religious motivations of our current crop of billionaires, but presumably a lot of the same motivations are at play, since human nature hasn't changed substantially in the past 100 years.

> assuage your guilt

People who would feel guilty with billions don’t get billions. And I would argue they shouldn’t. If you’re a billionaire, you get to unilaterally do things others can’t. Like pioneer space travel or explore under-appreciated branches of medicine.

Because with billions you can have such a greater impact... I really don't follow this argument

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