The world doesn’t need billionaires.

No more false idols

Billionaires. Just saying the word leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, like spoiled caviar or an overturned glass of Dom Pèrignon. “But billionaires create jobs!” their defenders cry. Ah yes, jobs like “executive yacht waxer” and “bespoke spa treatment facilitator for the billionaire’s pet capybara.”

When a select few individuals amass unimaginable wealth, compounding every year, the question has to be asked: are billionaires necessary or even helpful for technological progress and innovation?

We’re told repeatedly — by simpering sycophants on LinkedIn and X — that billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and others propel progress through their vast resources. And SpaceX, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook have undoubtedly changed our world. But if we dig deeper than the PR spin and the fawning social media narratives, the real picture emerges: of a society and a planet increasingly dependent on the benign good will of a technocratic class intent on increasing their own power.

First and foremost: history’s major inventions and innovations did not require billionaire backers or individual wealth accumulation. The telephone, radio, computer, internet, vaccines, antibiotics, and countless other revolutionary technologies were not driven by singular billionaires…