Discussion

• @jason_kint Jason Kint on x

  We need more MacKenzie Scott in the world and a lot less Peter Thiel. “He has his own Epstein ties, but he calls the Pledge an ‘Epstein-adjacent, fake Boomer club.’”

• @tyler_m_john @tyler_m_john on x

  This was painful to read. The decay of charitable giving is one of the clearest indications of a collapsing notion of a collective good we are all striving toward. Can we ever get it back?

• @rcobooth Rachel Cohen Booth on x

  “The value proposition has changed because the erosion of general trust, the polarization of everything... You're more likely to be criticized for giving large amounts of money away now than praised. That probably wasn't as true 15 years ago” https://x.com/...

• @teddyschleifer Teddy Schleifer on x

  I spent the last few months talking to people around The Giving Pledge about a bygone era of philanthropy. There is an attack campaign against the Pledge led by none other than Peter Thiel. My reported essay for NYT Sunday Business is out today. [image]

• @helaineolen Helaine Olen on x

  Consider the backpedaling by billionaires on The Giving Pledge a reminder that not only can't voluntary charity substitute for taxation, it was a scam to ever consider it an adequate substitute for taxation.

• @amandakhurley Amanda Kolson Hurley on bluesky

  Philanthropy is never going to solve all our problems or replace taxes and good policy.  But it seems bad that the very concept is now derided by the megarich www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/b...

• @bensoskis Benjamin Soskis on bluesky

  A good piece from @teddyschleifer.bsky.social on the rise & fall of the Giving Pledge.  This is a moment of exhaustion, cynicism & disillusionment wrt to large-scale giving.  But I still think an imperfect set of philanthropic norms are better than none at all.  —  www.nytimes.co…

• @tamslick Tamara Keel on bluesky

  Every billionaire is a failure of public policy.  —  www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/b...

• @jvagle.me Jeffrey Vagle on bluesky

  Peter Thiel is “strongly discouraging” fellow billionaires from signing the philanthropic Giving Pledge because the money will go to “left-wing nonprofits.”  —  Another Exit, Voice, Loyalty moment from tech ideologues.  —  www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/b...

• @donmoyn Don Moynihan on bluesky

  It is undeniable that there is a) both extraordinary new concentrations of wealth and b) those benefiting don't want to share it any way.  —  The “Giving Pledge” was a nod to some form of social contract.  Now, billionaires are walking away from it.  —  www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15…

• @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social Jeff Jarvis on mastodon

  As a trend story, this could have been recast as the ungenerous greed of the right-wing billionaire class.  So tax them.  —  The Billionaire Backlash Against a Philanthropic Dream https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x

  the disillusionment with the giving pledge speaks to, i think, many billionaires not being very engaged with their giving and not really taking it seriously. there's bill gates and john arnold, but then everyone else seems to do philantroslop (universities, well known orgs etc)

• @jerusalemdemsas @jerusalemdemsas on x

  Thiel is a world historic villain. Hard to overstate his negative impact on humanity.

• @angie_rasmussen Dr. Angela Rasmussen on x

  Here's the trouble with just saying it's cool for billionaires to run things because billionaires: they start lobbying against insufficiently fascist philanthropy & also pretending “Left Behind” antichrist shit is now cutting edge philosophy for the intellectually stunted

• @panickssery Arjun Panickssery on x

  I don't think Elon should give half his money to charities he doesn't control there's also no time in the past where (in hindsight) it would be better if he had Gates has done good but will struggle to spend down the money before he dies thiel is right about left-wing capture

• @artemisconsort Hunter Ash on x

  So many of the nonprofits undermining our civilization were set up and funded by businessmen who'd be horrified by what they're doing today. No one should give them more power.

• @mualphaxi Maxwell Meyer on x

  Strong.

• @chrispainteryup Chris Painter on x

  What's the point of encouraging people to “un-sign” The Giving Pledge? Don't you literally choose what to donate to under the pledge?

• @rokomijic Roko on x

  Thiel is my hero

• @teddyschleifer Teddy Schleifer on x

  Peter Thiel tells me that he has had a dozen private conversations recently with signers of The Giving Pledge, encouraging them to “un-sign it.” [image]

• @timothypmurphy Tim Murphy on bluesky

  Peter Thiel has a very Peter Thiel reaction to the Giving Pledge, but the underlying premise just does not hold up over time www.nytimes.com/2026/03/15/b...