The billionaires made a promise — now some want out | TechCrunch

Not everyone agrees on what “giving back” even means. To the increasingly significant libertarian wing of tech, the entire framework is wrong: Building companies, creating jobs, and driving innovation are the real contributions, and the pressure to layer philanthropy on top is, at best, a social convention; at worst, a shakedown dressed up as virtue.

Few figures capture the current mood quite like Thiel, who never signed the Pledge himself and is no fan of Bill Gates (he has reportedly called Gates an “awful, awful person“). In fact, Thiel tells the Times he has privately encouraged around a dozen signers to undo their commitments, and has even gently pushed those already wavering to make their exits official.

It’s a real wonder why billionaires are under “attack” recently. To them, it’s the 1980’s again. And they fully believe they can make trickle down economics great again.