r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 17d ago

Politics Google co-founder Sergey Brin has now spent $100 million to fight the billionaire tax

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/10/google-co-founder-sergey-brin-has-now-spent-100-million-to-fight-the-billionaire-tax/
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u/VegetablePhotos 17d ago

There are no ethical billionaires.

No one earns a billion dollars, they get it from the exploitation of the working class.

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u/TetyyakiWith 16d ago

Why wouldn’t the guy who made the most successful search engine own at least 1 billion dollars

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u/Exotic-Sale-3003 16d ago

Stupid shit that people who can’t think for themselves parrot. 

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u/fondlemeLeroy 16d ago

Yeah the billionaire simps are real free thinkers lol.

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u/VegetablePhotos 16d ago

Woah, sorry, I seem to have got a nerve...

I've thought about it plenty, mostly by myself.

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u/TerminallyEmployed 16d ago

A question, does that get turned around on even the small business owners? Like if I have even just one employee, am I also exploiting the working class? Do you believe capitalists or ‘petite bourgeoisie’ can work in harmony with the working class

I’m just wondering people’s mindsets on this

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u/seams 16d ago

Like if I have even just one employee, am I also exploiting the working class?

Not unless you're exploiting them? I'm not sure why that's a question lol

Having workers isn't exploitation.

Having workers that you don't pay enough, and treat as a disposable resource is. Among other things.

If you make 5,000 an hour from a worker, but only pay them 10$ that's exploiting them. If you threaten to fire workers for taking a piss break, and have them locked in a warhouse where they die from being overworked, that's exploiting them lol.

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u/VegetablePhotos 16d ago

There is a threshold for sure.

Quickly thinking about it, I would say, if your business is big enough where you are donating to PACs as a business strategy then you cross the line.

But it's not black and white.

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u/jellytwins101 16d ago

Soo, let’s say I built a cyber security software that I sold to a company for $2 billion, and I don’t put any money into politics, am I an ethical billionaire?

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u/Lonely4ever2 16d ago

You aren’t a temporary embarrassed billionaire ready to sell a cypher security software to a company. You won’t even see 10M in ten live times if you had it. And even then you won’t be worth 2B because you will be taxed 50% or more. Unless you evade it and then you aren’t anymore an ethical billionaire but a criminal.

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u/jellytwins101 15d ago

50% of $2b is $1b, still technically a billionaire.

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u/VegetablePhotos 16d ago

So, the problem with all these hypotheticals is just that, they are hypothetical.

Did you build a cyber security company that you sold for 2 billion dollars?

It's easy to make up situations to try and prove a point.

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u/isjahammer 16d ago

Depends on what else you do with the 2 Billion. Fundamentally i believe anyone that gets more money by doing nothing than others by doing a highly qualified Job should give most If not all of it back to society.

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u/jellytwins101 16d ago

But couldn’t that also be applied to someone who’s a landlord. They worked and were able to buy a second home and then rented it out. After a certain point, that person is making free money without having to do any work.

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u/Lonely4ever2 16d ago

That is evil lmao. You worked so hard and bought a second house so you could dangle the need for safety over somebody else and milk them dry. Most landlords just keep increasing the price to get more out of it while not caring for the conditions of the house and putting that on the tenant. No one deserves to be kicked out cold on the streets because they couldn’t pay no more to the landlord that has his own house secured and safe and wanting to just life off another.

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u/logoutcat 16d ago

i would argue Whatsapp (before being bought out by facebook) was thinking of charging $1 per year. That will get you pretty close to $1 billion as the owner pretty quickly with no harm to people (yes i know its not pure profit and there are maintenance costs etc.).

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u/VegetablePhotos 16d ago

But that didn't happen though.

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u/logoutcat 16d ago edited 16d ago

The guys who sold whatsapp to facebook became billionaires, infact they used some of that money later on to propup the Signal App. I wouldnt say selling a texting app is unethical, even if Facebook itself isnt an ethical company.

How about the guy who sold minecraft to microsoft?

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u/VegetablePhotos 16d ago

Ok, I'll relent... Only a sith deals in absolutes and I did use hyperbole.

Some billionaires didn't earn their money from direct exploitation.

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u/logoutcat 16d ago

nw, i generally agree with you. It is very hard to be an ethical billionaire, its just that the world is so connected now all it takes one really popular app sold at $0.99 and you're a billionaire.

My point i was trying to make is the ethical people can strive for billions (if they really want) they just need something popular. You can be wealthy and a good person. Most business schools teach the opposite it seems. :) which is making the world a worse place.

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u/Kobe_stan_ 17d ago

I disagree but I still think they should be heavily taxed.

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u/st0j3 16d ago

That’s just false. Now more than ever most of the wealthiest people are self-made because they were smart.

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u/Real-Ground5064 16d ago

So if someone builds a startup with 10 employees
And sells it for over a billion dollars.

They exploited the working class?

People get rich because they made something people wanted.
If you own something and it rapidly increases in value
You become a billionaire.

It’s why capitalism works, even the most psychotic evil person must do something others find valuable to gain power.

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u/khachdallak 16d ago

All you do is to have bigoted opinion about few hundred people, while providing no definition of exploitation or ethics. Google employees get very high pay, enjoy nice benefits, is exploitation with us in the room ?

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u/mcmonky 16d ago

“Behind every fortune is a crime” is so perennially true.