What Would You Do With Billions of Dollars?

A Saturday Prompt

The richest man in the world. (Photo by Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

It’s struck me ever since Elon Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 that if he had remained the billionaire owner of an electric vehicle company and a rocket-making company whose great dream was to go to Mars, he would still be hailed as a visionary making positive contributions to society. But obviously owning Tesla and SpaceX was not enough, and his claim after buying Twitter for $44 billion that he was dedicated to creating a true “digital town square” was a lie. He wanted more: more money, more power, more eyeballs to view his hateful opinions, more freedom to say and do whatever he wants.

That desire to sow conflict and spread hate turned Twitter into an assaultive, pro-Nazi, pro-Trump cesspool named X, a playground for extremists and abusers to display their worst selves with abandon. If Twitter was a place where discourse and information could be found, X had become a home for Elon Musk to spread disinformation and feel aggrieved when progressives, news organizations and major businesses fled for saner pastures.

All that was just a warm-up for his alliance with Donald Trump, a pact with the devil that led Musk to become his top donor, revel in his victory with Nazi salutes behind the presidential seal, and secure a spot beside him in the Oval Office. Once there, armed with a made-up department of his own where he could pretend that his real interest was identifying waste and improving government with Trump’s approval, Musk could help destroy agency after agency by carelessly cutting funding, recklessly firing public servants, dangerously violating government systems, illegally collecting data on private citizens—and ensuring that investigations into his businesses would not go forward. The richest man in the world, who had presented himself as someone who cares about the health of the planet, had revealed himself to be one of the worst sociopaths—whose actions in ending foreign aid have led to the spread of starvation, disease and death, and indeed will destroy hundreds of thousands of lives or more this year.

With the public unraveling of Musk’s relationship with Trump—a spectacle that is yet another egregious expression of the incompetence, pettiness, hatefulness, vengeance and egomaniacal lust for power that defines the fascistic Trump America—we might like to imagine that Musk would focus on saving his electric vehicle company and using his unimaginably vast resources for good. I wouldn’t bet on it, now that he has reveled in political power and sees his opportunity to exploit his social media platform, bless and punish Congressional candidates, and build a political movement in his alt-right image. Musk may be out of the White House, but neither he nor the destructive work that he unleashed is behind us. Nor, tragically, is the appalling dedication of the White House occupant to corruptly exploit his power to amass as much wealth as he can.

All this has led me to wonder not only about Musk’s billions but about the mega-wealth that defines modern America. If only the richest country in the world would apply all its resources for good—things like foreign aid to limit starvation, disease and death, and domestic funding to end hunger and poverty and provide everyone basic health care, affordable housing and good public schools. That’s a future that need not be a mere pipe dream once we emerge from our current nightmare.

But today, let’s reflect on what vast riches might yield. What would you do with billions of dollars? Don’t feel obliged to be virtuous. Maybe you want a vast mansion and a fleet of aircraft. Maybe you want a zoo or a great art collection. Maybe you want to host spectacular parties. Then again, maybe you want to apply some of your billions to address the problems that engage and worry you.

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $50 a year or just $5 a month, if you’re not already. This helps sustain and expand the work of America, America, keeps nearly all the content free for everyone and gives you full access to the comment sections. Building our community has never been more important.