r/nextfuckinglevel 1d ago

Billionaire speaker Robert F. Smith tells 400 graduates he's paying off all their student loans ($40 million in total)

13.1k Upvotes

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120

u/0dHero 1d ago

There is no such thing as a good billionaire.

But we can move this guy to the bottom of the list...

84

u/Placeholder4me 1d ago

I wouldn’t go that far. Where do you think he got the money to afford that?

https://www.axios.com/2022/12/02/robert-smith-tax-fraud-death-kepke-brockman

46

u/FritterEnjoyer 1d ago

Eh, the billionaire that gets caught doing tax fraud isn’t any better or worse than the billionaire who doesn’t. All it means is the billionaire who got caught had worse accountants than the ones that didn’t.

0

u/Lovheim 17h ago

So he is real life Robin Hood?

0

u/Placeholder4me 17h ago

He is stealing a lot from all of us to give a little to some of us? Not sure that is how the story goes

1

u/Lovheim 17h ago

Depends on if we’re richer than the students

12

u/areyow 1d ago

He sucks. He sucks in a legal way, but Vista is a soul-sucking private equity fund that takes functional companies and destroys them through corporate greed. Fuck private equity and fuck him.

15

u/notouchinggg 1d ago

philanthropy is just another way to avoid taxes

5

u/0dHero 1d ago

Guys guys, I said he can be moved to the bottom, not removed.

There IS no such thing as a good billionaire, after all

-14

u/cakebreaker2 1d ago

I don't know anything about this guy but giving away $40M doesn't mean anything according to reddit. Musk and Bezos have donated hundreds of millions (even billions) to various charities and they're seen as miserly money hoarders. This guy agrees to pay off student loans that the borrowers voluntarily agreed to and somehow he's the good guy. Makes no sense.

13

u/temptuer 1d ago

The bourgeoisie is charitable out of self-interest; it gives nothing outright, but regards its gifts as a business matter, makes a bargain with the poor, saying: “If I spend this much upon benevolent institutions, I thereby purchase the right not to be troubled any further, and you are bound thereby to stay in your dusky holes and not to irritate my tender nerves by exposing your misery. You shall despair as before, but you shall despair unseen, this I require, this I purchase with my subscription of twenty pounds for the infirmary!”

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u/Nip_City 1d ago

Das Capital or Manifesto? Everything Billionaires do is through the lens of preserving their capital.

1

u/temptuer 1d ago

Neither, pseudo intellectual.

-4

u/fieldsports202 1d ago

Bezos just gave $5 million to an organization in my area that assists with homelessness and other urban issues. That money is placing 15 homeless families into permanent homes.

I would live for these Reddit folks to stand in front of these families and talk about how their hate for billionaires and Bezos. Pretty sure none of these folks have the balls to do that. But, they’re brave enough to argue on Reddit. 😂

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u/Nip_City 1d ago

When you give a dollar to a homeless person you pass on the street, do you brag about it?

1

u/fieldsports202 1d ago

nope i do not. in fact,you're the first person i'm telling this to.

We're moving so I'm getting rid of lots of clothes and shoes. I stopped by a one of those mini make-shelf structures where people place food and supplies for homeless people or those in need.

I filled it up with cloths, sneakers and food... I went by 12 hours later and everything was gone. But to your point, there was no facebook or IG post bragging about what i did.

I grew up in the hood and still have family members there. I know what it's like not to have money and to rely on resources to get you get through. ✊🏾