The fall of Bill Gates and the end of American philanthropy

The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has claimed an unexpected victim: American philanthropy. Its leading figure has been none other than Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and creator of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, arguably the most powerful foundation in the world, whose goal is to support healthcare in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. But Gates' reputation has been tarnished since it was confirmed that in the early 2010s he spent time - and too much time - with Jeffrey Epstein, the sex predator who committed suicide in a New York prison in August 2019, as well as with young women.

He has not been charged with any crime, but his integrity has been seriously compromised. The man who was once the richest man in the world was abandoned by his friend Warren Buffett. “I haven’t spoken to him at all since the whole thing came out,” Buffett told CNBC on March 31, adding that he had stopped donating to the Gates Foundation. The foundation has launched an external review of Gates’ relationship with Epstein.

Meanwhile, tech billionaires have seized the opportunity to attack philanthropy, which they see as extremely progressive. The movement that Gates launched in 2010 to encourage the world’s billionaires to pledge at least half of their wealth to charity is falling apart. Jeff Bezos (Amazon) never signed it, and Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX), who did so in 2012, is now under pressure from his peers to step down. In the fall of 2025, in a conversation with fellow billionaire Peter Thiel, founder of Palantir, he questioned the purpose of his wealth. “What should I do? Leave it to my kids?” he asked. “You know, it would be much worse to give it to Bill Gates,” Thiel replied.

Bill Gates' fall shatters the myth of the benevolent billionaire and strips American capitalism of its moral cover

Convinced that they are already serving the good of humanity, tech billionaires see no point in philanthropy. Musk claims that Tesla is fighting climate change and that SpaceX will enable humans to become a multiplanetary species. Bezos believes that by democratizing access to books and making it easier for mothers to shop, he is contributing to the common good. “If I do my job right, the value that my for-profit companies bring to society and civilization will be much, much greater than the good I do through charitable giving,” he explained to CNBC on May 20. Musk immediately backed up that statement on X: “Bravo, Jeff Bezos!”

Increasing power

Both believe they manage capital better than governments and see no reason to pay taxes. “If we ran Amazon the way New York runs its school system, packages would arrive in six weeks, we would charge you $100 for shipping, and when the package finally arrived, it would have the wrong product in it,” Bezos continued.

Back in 2021, Musk argued that his job was to allocate capital and that it “made no sense” to take it away from people who had demonstrated “great skill” in order to hand it over to the government, known for its “very poor skill.”

Beyond any moral debate about inequality, such an approach ignores a key point. Musk claims to live like a hermit: “I don’t live a hedonistic life. I don’t have a yacht”—a stark contrast to Bezos, who got married in a lavish ceremony in Venice in June 2025 and owns a $500 million yacht.

But Musk never gives back to society, as philanthropists and welfare states should. He seeks to accumulate more and more capital and power in order to control everything, as illustrated by his astronomical compensation packages at Tesla and SpaceX. By ruling as an absolute master, confident in his own superiority, he seems to want to establish a kind of techno-feudalism. This poses a major democratic problem, one that has been less pronounced in traditional philanthropy, rooted in humanistic values ​​and relying on independent bodies entrusted with the management of funds.

Gates understood everything: he was returning wealth to society, but he ran his foundation with the rigor of Microsoft, demanding strict efficiency and encouraging state institutions to do the same. His downfall shatters the myth of the benevolent billionaire and strips American capitalism of its moral cover. Musk, Bezos, and their ilk may believe they have won, but the situation is becoming untenable. Their time is running out.

Translation: NB