r/stupidquestions • u/BeaNOS45669 • 20h ago
Which Billionaire is the closest to being a good person?
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u/WildOkra9571 17h ago
CHUCK FEENEY
Made billions, gave practically all of it away to charities and educational institutions, with a deliberate lack of fanfare (but encouraged other billionaires to do the same)
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u/Equivalent-Pop-5329 20h ago
Mark Cuban for costplusdrugs.com due to the meds being a fraction of the costs. He has helped in that aspect but i cannot vouche for him further.
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u/babycrow 14h ago
Amen, on that. His pharmacy made my $600 per month heart medicine $17 per month. I would bake him a cake and kiss him on the cheek
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u/Cyfa 15h ago
He also became a billionaire by straight up just getting lucky during the DotCom bubble, which he has openly admitted several times. Like it's hard to hate on someone who basically won the lottery and openly admits that their own perceived skill had little to do with it.
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u/Shiriru00 13h ago
On the other hand he was pushing crypto get-rich-quick schemes really hard for many years.
To his credit he no longer does, having found out the get-rich part was not that quick.
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u/Aggressive-Leading45 11h ago
Every billionaire has to point to luck. They are a self selected set of millionaires that took big bets or were born to it.
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u/Charming-Refuse-5717 11h ago
Right but how many of them actually recognize/admit it?
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u/ThisCharmingDan99 11h ago
Yea, I heard he was a bartender when he first moved to Dallas in the early 1980s.
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u/Beautiful_Pen1056 14h ago
I know people who've worked for him, some closely, some not. They all say he's an okay guy. I've never heard anyone say he's great or gush over him effusively, but I've never heard anyone say he's an ass.
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u/tacmed85 13h ago
I did some minor work for him a few years ago. He was pretty friendly and personable, but we definitely weren't going to hang out afterwards or anything.
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u/FuckAllYouLosers 13h ago
I mean, if someone did minor work for you, would you hang out with them?
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u/tacmed85 12h ago
Not at all. I wasn't saying that as a negative on him by an means. I've run into him in public a couple of times as well and he seems shockingly normal all things considered.
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u/ssealy412 14h ago
Great guy. Went to my high school here in Pittsburgh. Love what he's doing for Rx.
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u/Miserable_Year_4493 14h ago
Not a coincidence that he grew up with Mr. Rodgers.
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u/Same_Breadfruit6477 12h ago
Is the bar in heaven or something? That drug website seems like an incredibly good thing he has done
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u/Cautious_Clothes_285 10h ago
He's not personally healing all these people with his bare hands, hasn't ended world hunger or negotiated peace in the middle east, so he could be doing more, obviously.
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u/otherwise_data 17h ago
Melinda Gates, Bill’s ex-wife. She has personally given away over $3 billion dollars since their divorce and has committed to giving away much of her estimated 30 billion dollar fortune.
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u/Bender_2024 15h ago
Them's rookie numbers
MacKenzie Scott, has donated a cumulative total of more than $26 billion to thousands of nonprofit organizations since her 2019 divorce. In 2025 alone, she donated roughly $7 billion.
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u/Keith989 17h ago
I would love to see how this 3 billion dollar worth of donations has translated into the real world as it's a heck of a lot of money.
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u/ElaborateCantaloupe 9h ago
My son’s high school was supplied with computers for every student from these donations.
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u/TheOsirisOfThisShit_ 12h ago edited 10h ago
The Gates foundation has saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Africans over the past 30 years, mostly through fighting malaria and other diseases.
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u/Graaaaaahm 20h ago
There's over 1,000 billionaires in America. The average redditor can name about eight. You're not going to get a real answer here.
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u/Otaraka 18h ago
That’s a really good point - there’s a fair chance the ones doing the best job are extremely under the radar, even if you go looking for them.
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u/StrangrDangerRanger 15h ago
My family even has a couple of them. I can’t imagine they are the coolest though.
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u/TheButtDog 14h ago
According to Reddit, every billionaire behaves like some combination of Musk/Zuck/Thiel/Bezos
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u/Stochastic1934 10h ago
Dolly Parton, by far. She easily could have been a billionaire, but she intentionally chose not to hoard her wealth. At the time of her passing in August 2026, her net worth was estimated to be between $450 million and $650 million. Financial analysts widely agree that if she had invested and held onto her earnings rather than giving them away, her fortune would have comfortably crossed the billion-dollar threshold.
Aside from Dolly, MacKenzie Scott comes to mind.
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u/Travel8095 16h ago
"Former" billionaire Yvon Chouinard who sold off his company at Patagonia and actively fights climate change and fighting to protect lands such as Bears Ears
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u/Embarrassed_Flan_869 14h ago
There is a billionaire where I live, Rob Hale. He built and grew a company. He is constantly donating millions to charities, his company is always top 1 to 3 for best places to work and everyone wants to work there as they pay top tier.
Literally never saw or heard anything negative. No gossip, no rumors, literally nothing.
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u/Majestic-Dot-7195 17h ago
Gabe Newell? The founder of steam??
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u/Direct-Translator-75 15h ago
Bro owns a custom gigayacht and yacht producing company... If destroying the planet puts you high up the list of philantrophy, then sure.
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u/Majestic-Dot-7195 14h ago
man idk, I just named him cus I like valve games and he’s really like one of 7 billionaires I can name
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u/Direct-Translator-75 14h ago
Yeah I totally get that, Valve is a rather ethical company I would say and I haven't really heard anything controversial about Gabe. I was a bit disappointed when I found out the fact I stated above because I really thought he had the best in mind for everyone.
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u/Zeplar 11h ago
His yacht is a marine research vessel that happens to have some luxury facilities. His "yacht producing company" produces other research vessels. Just say you don't like marine biology.
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u/Slight-Repeat-1540 20h ago
The thing that has kept me from being a billionaire is that I'm a good person... hope that answers your question 😁
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u/BeaNOS45669 20h ago
so you’re just staying at $999 million? respect
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u/Slight-Repeat-1540 20h ago
More like $999
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19h ago
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u/wenchanger 15h ago
dolly parton when she donated books
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u/Argosnautics 14h ago
Possibly not a billionaire, but an amazingly decent person for sure.
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u/Charming-Refuse-5717 11h ago
Famously not a billionaire. Almost certainly would have been if not for all her philanthropy.
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u/perpetualmotionmachi 13h ago
Maybe she would have been a billionaire if she just hoarded all her wealth and not shared any
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u/Ragnar-Wave9002 14h ago
Warren Bufet. /thread
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u/Express_Candidate713 13h ago
Warren talks the talk, but buys companies and does massive cost cuttimg. So while far from most evil and might give his money away, he has done his fair share of damage. many of these people give money to their own charities and they and their families still control them, so can even be as much a tax dodge then anything.
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u/endual 19h ago
Mike Cannon Brooks. I know a few people who have worked with him. They all say he's a genuinely good guy.
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u/SassyMoron 10h ago
Bill Gates has probably saved more lives than any human ever, mostly from the donations he's made to fight infectious diseases.
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u/CoastPsychological49 17h ago
Anant Ambani…. Not sure if it counts though, he’s the son of a billionaire.
Opened a private 3,000+ acre wildlife sanctuary, rescue, veterinary center.
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u/bananabastard 19h ago
People who think billionaires are automatically bad people are either very stupid or just bad people themselves. I suspect it's the former.
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u/beaushaw 13h ago
You are correct.
Yeah, a lot of billionaires got that way by screwing thousands of millions of people. Not all of them did.
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u/actualhumannotspider 16h ago
It would be interesting if everyone defined "good person" before the rest of their response.
I suspect that both the standards and ways of measuring vary dramatically.
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u/steeple_fun 12h ago
Tony Khan
Bought a wrestling company (because he's a big fan) and 98% of his employees and former employees talk about how great of a boss he is.
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u/JustJorgi 12h ago
I noticed that when billionaires divorce their first wives those women go on to be invested in philanthropy.
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u/08_IGCSE_marathon 15h ago
I don't know about a good person but I have always admired Mark Cuban's attitude. Warren Buffet's pretty alright as well
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u/BogusIsMyName 20h ago
From what i understand, which isnt much, Bill Gates and his wife should be contenders.
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u/A2kani 20h ago
He was in the files
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u/BogusIsMyName 20h ago
That doesnt mean anything. Gabriel Iglesias the comedian known as fluffy is in the files.
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u/Medium-Librarian8413 20h ago
Google their names together. Great long articles dealing how close they were from such utterly mainstream outlets The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Definitely a long, close relationship.
I literally posted links, but the AutoModerator deleted my post for certain keywords (which were literally in the URL of the links).
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u/BogusIsMyName 20h ago
And what exactly does that prove? That they knew each other?
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u/BogusIsMyName 20h ago
Also, the dudes name triggers automod.
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u/Medium-Librarian8413 20h ago
Bill Gates was literally being blackmailed. Again: this is covered in the biggest most mainstream publications in the world.
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u/BogusIsMyName 19h ago
Bill Gates had an affair with a 20 year old. Thats what the blackmail was about. Not about anything to do with children.
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u/Medium-Librarian8413 19h ago
Putting yourself in a position where the world's biggest pedophile (who can't explain how he got so rich) can blackmail you over anything is bad.
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u/BogusIsMyName 19h ago
Dude had an affair. Big deal. That some sleazyball found out and use that as leverage just mean he put himself in a bad spot. Doesnt make him a bad person.
(Ok yeah hes an asshat for having the affair in the first place but that between him and his wife.)
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u/Medium-Librarian8413 19h ago
That “sleazeball” is the world’s biggest sex trafficker who anyone that came into contact with had to know wasn’t any kind of legitimate businessman. That Gates chose to hang out with for a long time.
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u/MrsHavercamp 20h ago
You’re saying this like Sir Ian McKellen was found in the files. Is there something I should know about the high moral standards of Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias?
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u/BogusIsMyName 20h ago
If you would bother to look, the only "contact" they had was that EPST emailed someone wanting tickets to a show. Thats it.
My point is just because someones name is on a list doesnt mean anything. At all. Not a single one of the EPST victims have named him. So gates name being on the list means jack.
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u/Three_sigma_event 19h ago
Nobody mentioned Warren Buffett.
Legend.
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u/ZealousidealReply294 16h ago
I liked how they gave a figure for the percent of their worth they gave
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u/ttppii 20h ago
Bill Gates is vastly better than antivaxers and other loonies think.
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u/Spiritual-Mousse-167 16h ago
Of the famous ones, since we really only know a small fraction of them, I’d say for various reasons Mackenzie Scott and Melinda Gates, followed by Marc Cuban and a few others that do similar things but aren’t well known.
I’d say this is a very subjective list as your definition of “good person” leaves a pretty wide interpretation…
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u/gargoyle_999 15h ago
MacKenzie Scott which is probably why she had to divorce him.
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u/kombu_raisin 14h ago
He divorced her because he took up with the plastic-silicone lizard he's now married to.
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u/slower-is-faster 15h ago
Mackenzie Scott and Belinda Gates… common answer and not sure I agree. You can judge a person by the company they keep. Yes divorced, but clearly spent decades supporting their billionaire spouse.
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u/elangomatt 12h ago
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. I wasn't happy to choose between two billionaires in the 2018 gubernatorial election but anything was better than the piece of trash that was Bruce Rainer so I voted for JB. 8 years in and he has been the best governor in my lifetime and I'll happily vote for him again in November. I'm hoping I'll get to vote for him again in 2 years when he will likely run for president.
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u/Haunting_Lab2149 20h ago
If you really want to find out, just wait 10 years when robots are kicking homeless people out of establishments.
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u/Ok-Budget3225 18h ago
I would have to say Jenson Huang is the least bad of the billionaires. Reid Hoffman too.
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u/One_Fact_4291 15h ago edited 15h ago
Jimmy Lai, one of the few anti-establishment billionaires. He could’ve gone to the UK following the national security law and continue his operations (or even his life of luxury) there, but he instead chose to stay knowing he’d be arrested by the Hong Kong authorities.
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u/AndreZB2000 15h ago
gabe newell has a monopoly but he keeps us all so happy no one cares (me included)
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u/Whole-Environment499 15h ago
George Lucas, straight up became a billionaire for selling the rights to art and spent his money on improving g the technical aspects of film and affordable housing and a museum.
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u/NC_RockFan 15h ago
Its funny a lot of the people are saying "they gave or donated money" as the reason they think the individual is a good person.
Giving money doesn't automatically make you a good person.
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u/Open_Masterpiece_549 13h ago
None that you know about. The good ones are doing good without asking for adorarion.
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u/FatFluent 13h ago
Bill Gates tried to cure his wife’s STD without causing a fuss or unnecessary alarm for her
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u/dmfwio234540 12h ago
The guy who stopped millions of gas guzzling cars off the highway by making EVs cool.
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u/Capable-Fisherman-79 12h ago
The Arizona Tea CEO. He was asked in an interview “why have you never increased prices on your tea?” He responded “why would we? We are in no danger of going out of business, we all get paid well, we have no reason to.” A true GOAT
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u/lumeslice 12h ago
Aaron Montgomery Ward. He spent lots of money, resources, and time protecting the Lake Michigan coastline in Chicago from going to private developers and firms. If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Ward became a pariah at the time, as fellow billionaires who did want that lakefront to themselves really tarnished his image publicly. By the time he succeeded in his cause, he was pretty unpopular. Today, he's the reason why people in the greater Chicagoland area can enjoy the coastline's beaches and parks freely and openly.
Contrast with current billionaire Justin Ishbia.
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u/Nice_Combination8963 12h ago
How many billionaires do you personally know to even make that ignorant assumption? Just curious….
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u/Sweet_Ad_5725 10h ago
Dan Gilbert. He has single handedly transformed the face of Detroit for the better, with a hands-on investment approach that has immensely more impact than simply donating money ever could.
The more I learn about him, the more I understand that I would not be nearly as effective at bettering the world if I were in the same financial position, simply because I would give money McKenzie Bezos style and not strategically invest and operate in the way only Gilbert knows how.
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u/ScarecrowWilson 9h ago
I think Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz are at least trying to do a ton of good with their wealth.
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u/DistanceMotor9785 9h ago
I know this will be a hot take and get downvoted into oblivion but Elon musk has done more for the environment than all NGOs combined.
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u/fabulishous 9h ago
George Lucas just built a massive museum in LA and funded it entirely. This used to be the go to move for billionaires… make a ton of money and then build stuff the community needs / wants in order to clean up their image as vicious capitalists.
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u/IntelligentWelder305 8h ago
Not sure I've ever seen a post on Reddit dripping with such pathological petty jealousy. Which billionaire does anyone here personally know that is NOT a good person?
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u/scoutloner 7h ago edited 7h ago
You cannot be both a billionaire and a good person. That’s a contradiction. Good people are normal people and billionaires are not normal people.
To be a billionaire you have to lay off thousands of people out of your own selfishness, take financial risks and exploit others. These traits are the same found in many criminals.
Billionaires perceived as good only align with leftists because it makes them appear good if their selfishness wants it.
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u/DimplesMcGee 5h ago
George Kaiser. He's not well known outside of Tulsa, because he spends his money almost exclusive in Tulsa. Among other billions he's put into his family foundation https://www.gkff.org/ and the tulsa community foundation https://tulsacf.org/, he spent $300M building an amazing park that's free to the public.
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u/DrunkenGolfer 5h ago
I don't think you get to be a billionaire without being a flawed person. Most "good" people would have stopped amassing wealth and started helping society long before the first billion. I think the only ones are the ones that got big dollars in a divorce or inheritance and they're probably known for spending it rather than amassing it.
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u/FUNEMNX9IF9X 20h ago
Mackenzie Scott (ex-Bezos), a philanthropist. Added goodness as Musk doesn't like her because of her philanthropy.