They’re not saving, that’s a faulty belief. The majority of them aren’t even liquid
They’re hoarding as frequently mentioned but it’s not about resources, really, it’s about control and power. Power and valuation are linked somewhat, but it takes more than that
Say my company is amazon, as an example. I hoard ownership stake and equity. I do not give workers a share and pay them minimally. I give investors as little as possible and buy back shares whenever I can. I raise the valuation by increasing the worth of company initially through traditional performance means: sell more stuff, productivity, efficiency, etc. but eventually I get so big at this I have to look at how to diversify to increase power. I enter other markets. Now I’m not just a online retail store, I’m a logistics company, I’m a pharmacy, I’m a web host for 50+% of the internet, I’m a key player in media streaming, I’m a smart home device manufacturer, I’m an ebook manufacturer, etc. I have dominance across dozens of markets
By hoarding equity I maintain control of that company to a significant degree. At this point there is likely a board that can override me for the sake of the shareholders who have taken a large portion of my equity but there is no other single person that has my power.
The equity comes with massive resource benefits of course, it’s basically infinite money chest and even if I’m not liquid I can get a loan for infinity dollars at a moments notice because I’m obviously good for it. But the real motivation for hoarding is because if I stop? Even for a second? I lose this power
That’s why they never retire. They only step down and put some weenie ceo in their place who won’t get their full power until they’re decrepit or dead. How many people can name the ceo of amazon now? (It’s Andy jassy, has a 0.02% ownership stake in amazon) but everyone knows bezos (9.6% ownership stake in amazon, 1.023 billion shares). People only knew tim cook because jobs literally knew he was about to die and his ownership stake is minimal (0.021% vs jobs 0.2% at his death). Who can name the CEO of twitter (Linda yaccarino, no ownership)? Musk is still the ceo of tesla (70% stake in twitter, 12.8% tesla). Even with these minimal ownership stakes though these people are filthy rich - jassy and cook both have a net worth well over half a billion from that alone.
ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 2 weeks ago
Billionnaires are hoarders. Like all hoarders, they don’t need what they hoard.
The problem for the rest of us is, instead of hoarding empty tincans or Hello Kitty figurines, they hoard money that they get in large part by not paying their fair share of taxes, and the money they hoard lets them buy politicians who in turn let them steal even more tax money.