Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has built a multibillion-dollar fortune, yet he recently characterized charity and philanthropy as a “net negative” for the world — a view that Elon Musk appears to share.
In a recent interview, Armstrong explained why he has no plans to establish a charitable foundation, arguing that philanthropies and charities are “actually a net negative” for the world. As clips from the interview began making the rounds online, the world’s richest man offered his agreement.
‘Actually a net negative on the world’
During a recent appearance on The Katie Miller Podcast, Armstrong discussed his belief that charity and philanthropy can ultimately become a “net negative” on the world.
“The common view is that philanthropy is a noble cause. And like, Bill Gates after the DOJ thing is like, ‘I’m going to go rehabilitate my image, I’m going to do philanthropy,'” Armstrong said during the interview.
Armstrong offered a more skeptical perspective, suggesting that charitable foundations and organizations can eventually become “captured by ideology.”
“I guess I have sort of a contrarian view where a lot of charities and philanthropies are actually net negative on the world. And they get captured. It’s actually remarkably hard to find a foundation that has not gotten captured by ideology,” Armstrong said. “I think a lot of people, by trying to do something good, like criminal justice reform, it turns out they just increased crime. All these unintended consequences happen.”
Given those concerns, Armstrong said he does not intend to create a charity or foundation of his own.
“So far, I’ve just been like ‘I’m not going to do that.’ My fear is that it just gets captured by some ideology and I lose control over it,” he said. “If you look at the Ford Foundation, I think Henry Ford would be turning over in his grave if he knew what they were up to.”
Instead, Armstrong said he relies on a donor-advised fund and tries to channel his wealth toward causes he believes are “helping civilization advance.”
Elon Musk Agrees
As footage of Armstrong’s podcast appearance spread across social media, Musk joined the conversation, signaling that he agrees with Armstrong’s assessment.
“He’s right,” Musk wrote in a post on X.
Musk’s response also appears consistent with some of his earlier comments regarding his approach to charitable giving.
Although Musk, who is by far the wealthiest person on the planet, signed the Giving Pledge in 2012, his charitable giving has remained relatively small compared with his enormous net worth. However, he did donate $5.7 billion worth of Tesla shares to his foundation, representing the largest contribution he has made.
In 2025, billionaire investor Peter Thiel recalled encouraging Musk to opt out of the Giving Pledge, arguing that his wealth would go “to left-wing nonprofits that will be chosen by Bill Gates.”
According to Thiel, Musk appeared to agree with the assessment.
“What am I supposed to do—give it to my children?” Musk responded, as Thiel recounted. “You know, it would be much worse to give it to Bill Gates.”
Given Musk’s latest comments backing Armstrong, his position on charitable giving appears to be fairly clear.
Musk Sparks Outrage
Needless to say, Musk’s comments quickly sparked outrage on social media.
“The fact that you can’t even cut a check to the food bank which ironically is becoming a necessity BECAUSE of AI speaks volumes,” one person wrote in a post on X.
“Over generalization and anecdotal reasoning is so easy to spot. It’s nefarious to try to convince people *most charities are bad. There should be audits and accountability. That said, this whole interview has unbalanced content. Food banks are always a really good idea. The churches that run them out of donations have helped a lot of people. We don’t need the government for this. No one is taking a cut of rich people’s checks without asking in this model. Helping people short term is ethical,” wrote social commentator Amber Dawn.
“When Elon Musk agrees on a social issue, you know it’s an extreme take,” wrote Geoff Wolfe of UC Berkley’s Haas School of Business.
“You are everything that is wrong with humanity. We areas of using your vast fortune doing things to help people, you are focused on vanity projects to soothe your own ego. You’re never going to Mars, Boring will never be a thing. Do something good with all the money,” another user added.
“It’s worth donating to charity just to create jobs in the 501c3 space. Most people employed there are very dedicated to their causes and spend much of their time and disposable income on that cause already! You definitely don’t know a 501c3 worker if you hate on 501c3s!” someone else wrote.
“Bill Gates has done more for humanity than you will ever accomplish,” another user commented.
Clearly, Musk’s opinion on charity and philanthropy is not a popular one.
About Kevin Harrish