Am I just deceived? I think I might love him?

  • AnyOldName3@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Which makes his platform more popular. And in turn brings him even more cash to buy more yachts.

    Realising that ratfucking your customers and suppliers at every opportunity makes them less willing to do business with you in the future, and therefore you’ll potentially make more money by not doing that, so then not doing that, is exactly what a greedy person would do if they weren’t also a moron. Gabe Newell is certainly not a moron. Lots of other billionaires are, or have other empathy-limiting conditions that mean they don’t realise people won’t want to do repeat business with them if they got screwed over the last time.

    There’s obviously a majority of billionaires that are much less ethical than Newell, but one superyatcht ought to be enough for anyone, and anyone buying a second one instead of putting the money directly to good causes is not benevolent.

    • EightBitBlood@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      I see granting access for anyone to make games for Steam as a good cause.

      The opportunity cost for what profit could be made by closing that is multitudes of yachts worth.

      Just because you do not value this as a good cause does not mean it is not.

      Does Gabe have more yachts than are needed? Yes. But again, you can’t just say he’s greedy because he has them. That’s being incredibly biased.

      Instead, how about you tell me what actions of his has made him greedy that don’t involve his assets?

      I can name hundreds of ways Musk should be drawn and quartered based on his actions that have nothing to do with his wealth, but rather his actual documented choices.

      What choices / actions / or anything of actual greed has Gabe done that you can point to?

      It’s like saying anything with a swastika on it is for Nazis without realizing Hindus have been using a right oriented Swastika to represent good fortune for hundreds of years.

      Gabe Newall has done the following with his 11 Billion fortune:

      • Co-founded “The Heart of Racing” car racing team that raises money for Children’s charity.

      • Donates heavily to the Seattle Children’s Hospital and several others around the world.

      • Founded Foundry10, a non profit education company that helps neuro divergent kids learn through new methods of education

      • Started InkFish to expand the scientific study of our oceans and is now the second highest individual donor towards marine research on the planet.

      https://80.lv/articles/gabe-newell-reportedly-plans-to-invest-usd300-million-to-marine-research

      That’s why he has those yachts.

      Same reason Hindus have their swastikas.

      Their actions speak louder than the symbols they use suggest. Even when those symbols are Yachts.

      He has 11 Billion. Everyone else even close to his level of market control has several magnitudes more. Why does he have so little when he owns a virtual monopoly on digital distribution?

      Because he’s not in it for maximizing his bank account.

      • AnyOldName3@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        The billion dollars in superyatchts is just the personally-owned luxury kind that billionaries like to hoard, not marine research boats that he has funded. Him giving away some of his money doesn’t mean that he’s not also frivilously spent more money than most people could hope to see in a lifetime.

        Fundamentally, I don’t think we’re going to agree here, as I fundamentally believe that there’s an amount of money beyond which there are no ethical grounds for keeping it, and it’s much lower than $11 billion. Newell has kept money above that threshold instead of giving everything he made beyond that threshold away (even illiquid stuff like part of his stake in Valve could, in principle, be given to a charity so the profit from Steam went straight into the charity), and I and plenty of other people would see that as greedy. Others might say that the fact that he’s given anything away that he wasn’t legally required to means that he’s not greedy. These are subjective ethical opinions, so even though they can’t be reconciled, it’s not a big deal. Different people think different things are wrong.

        The reason I’ve been replying at all is that some of the things you’ve stated to be facts are untrue, not that I’m trying to convince you that all billionaires are unethical.

        • EightBitBlood@lemmy.world
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          47 minutes ago

          What have I said that isn’t true?

          https://robbreport.com/motors/marine/billionaire-gabe-newell-oceanco-gigayacht-leviathan-1237360429/

          The 364-foot Leviathan was designed for billionaire gaming visionary Gabe Newell, who acquired the Dutch shipyard this past April.

          Leviathan is the latest addition to Newell’s Inkfish fleet and will be used to further scientific research in the marine sector. Occupying the place of the standard beach club is a fully equipped dive center, laboratory, and a hospital. There’s even a 3-D printing workshop where the crew can create spare or replacement parts. “Yachts have great potential to serve as platforms for scientific research,” adds Newell. “It’s about recognizing that you’re part of a broader community and ensuring the yacht’s presence adds value to the communities around it.”

          You are just continuing to make assumptions based entirely on the assets he owns instead of his behaviour.

          Something I keep pointing out, and is why I have also been responding.

          I am completely on your side and feel that anyone with over a billion is an ethical and moral burden. However, I’m also wise enough to recognize that as a goal to strive towards not a destination to judge against. So I’m not going to chastise those actively working towards that goal while still being a billionaire.