PREVIEW: The Friday Edition. - Not all billionaires are bad.
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Why do modern billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg lack the “aura” of past elites?
good morning good afternoon and good evening and welcome to the tangle podcast a place to get views from across the political spectrum some independent thinking and a little bit of my take today is a day of my take this is a members only friday edition on whether billionaires should exist Let me start by saying that I get it. A few years ago, I read a fascinating piece about how the NBA had lost its cool factor. The current stars of the league, like Jason Tatum or Shea Gildress Alexander, they just don't have it. They aren't charismatic in the same way as Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan or Dr. J were. They aren't eccentric or captivating or culture-defining. No aura, as the kids say. Spend a few minutes watching Elon Musk work a room or Mark Zuckerberg testify before Congress, and it's hard not to get a similar feeling.
These guys do not exude aura. They don't present as classy or high-minded or suave, which frankly is how we prefer our rich people to be. They are awkward and make bad jokes and laugh in uncomfortable ways. It at least feels like it was different before.
How did historic figures such as Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan embody a different kind of wealth and influence?
The elites we grew up reading about operated in a classy manner. They offered timeless wisdom or expressed humility when reflecting on their station in life. Andrew Carnegie was known for reciting poetry from memory, holding dinners where he'd debate Shakespeare and the merits of socialism, waking his entire household with a bagpiper every morning. He's credited with saying, quote, as I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do, end quote. J.P. Morgan was famous for locking bankers in his library during the panic of 1907 and not letting them leave until they solved the crisis. He once said, a man always has two reasons for doing anything, a good reason and the real reason.
Elon Musk, on the other hand, wielded a chainsaw while bragging about cuts to USAID and once entered Twitter HQ during a hostile takeover while carrying a sink. He tweeted, entering Twitter HQ, let that sink in. These people are not the same. Recently, I was in Italy for a friend's wedding.
What does the host’s visit to the Great Synagogue of Florence reveal about old‑world philanthropy?
I visited the great synagogue of Florence, one of the largest synagogues in Southern Europe, a true architectural masterpiece. I was struck by its history. The building survived the First and Second World Wars, and it even took a few direct hits to its roof, but also its origin. It was built after a wealthy Jew donated his entire estate to building a synagogue worthy of Florence. What a magnificent thing, I thought. In the old days, rich people would build great, big, beautiful synagogues or schools or libraries or museums and donate their entire life's fortunes to build something meaningful in a city they love. Today, our billionaires spend their wealth on pissing contests, 400-foot yachts and sports teams and a private space race.
I've realized that I hold old wealth in a certain esteem. I have a kind of base-level belief that money and wealth used to be accumulated with hard work and merit, earned by the best of us all before they left behind some great thing. Timeless wisdom, inventions, railroads, mausoleums, or other feats of ingenuity or philanthropy. Today, it's all about extracting cheap labor, then buying everything you want and trying to live forever, society be damned. But it turns out that's not really true, at least not anymore.
How have the sources of billionaire wealth shifted from inheritance to self‑made fortunes since the 1980s?
Paul Graham, a billionaire himself, wrote a fascinating piece in 2021 about how America's richest people in 1982 predominantly inherited their wealth. But things have changed. Today, as in the early 20th century, they are making it themselves. The number of heirs in the top 100 wealthiest Americans dropped from 60 to 27 between 1982 and 2020, and only about a quarter of new fortunes were made through investing smaller fortunes. The other three quarters were made by people starting companies. Before we get into the debate about the validity of an economic system that creates billionaires, one point seems fundamental. A lot of billionaires made their fortunes by creating something awesome in the truest sense of the word, something that causes mixed feelings of awe, reverence, and fear.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why do modern billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg lack the “aura” of past elites?
0:08–1:27
2
How did historic figures such as Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan embody a different kind of wealth and influence?
1:27–2:31
3
What does the host’s visit to the Great Synagogue of Florence reveal about old‑world philanthropy?
2:31–3:50
4
How have the sources of billionaire wealth shifted from inheritance to self‑made fortunes since the 1980s?
3:50–5:09
5
In what ways do today’s tech billionaires reshape the world compared to traditional industries?
5:09–6:38
6
Why does the episode end with a call to support Tangle’s membership and premium content?
6:38–7:09
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Tangle
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