Our resident corporate Agony Uncle, CEO Ken Cheng, tackles business challenges – so you don’t have to
Q. How do you feel about Elon Musk donating almost $500 million to campaigns his side lost in the election? Is that good business sense? – Mark, Hatfield
A. I understand what it’s like to be him. It’s hard having too much money. You have no idea what to do with it.
Yes, you could try using to build schools, fund infrastructure, or do something that helps the world in some meaningful way.
BORING.
Or, you could pick the “FUN” option. Throw all your money into political campaigns that will ultimately lose.
Not only do I support his decision to spend his money that way, I respect it.
After all, do children really need more schools? Do the sick really need more hospitals? Do any of us really need more roads?
But let me tell you who does need money: young underprivileged consultants who help run political campaigns.
Yes, you might think that $500 million went nowhere, but no, it went to some very important creative ad agency making very important political campaign adverts. They are the soul and lifeblood of our society and it’s great that a lot of this billionaire money is being fed down to them.
And for a rich successful man like Musk, this is no different than spending $500 million on gambling, which we can all agree is very fun.
It’s the same as going to the horse races, betting half a billion on a horse and watching it immediately fall and break its leg in the first 25 seconds. There is no better use of your money when you are a trillionaire.
So this was a win-win. It was fun for the man and it was great for the political campaigning industry. I don’t begrudge him – in fact, I once lit £50 on fire to prove a point. This is no different.
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