Exactly why I avoid paying paywalls, these folks are rich enough and I am not.
This comment is genuinely confusing to me. I think the people who get paid when you pay for paywalls are largely media companies and content creators. I think the owners of HN are, broadly speaking, investors. I think these are two different groups, and I don't understand the equivalence you're drawing.
Who do you think owns media companies? Investors, broadly speaking.
Maybe if you zoom out really far. But they're not getting paid if you subscribe to Substack or the New York Times, at least not in a way that is more meaningful than investors getting paid when you buy an apple at the grocery store, or rent a hotel room, or pay your phone bill. What' the difference, and why draw the line at paying for news articles and not something else?
They also get paid when you send traffic to free, ad-supported sites full of trackers.