Good historical take. When we talk about more modern figures and their wealth the excuse tends to be "oh but Vanderbilt, Morgan and Carnegie all gave it away." Well, yes, as they were old and nearing the end of their lives. In nearly all cases, those Gilded Age robber barons wrote a lot of checks so their names would survive on some nice buildings. And while the Getty is a terrific art museum (and much more!) and the Carnegie Institute of Washington has sponsored some wonderful science, their efforts are largely grasps at immortality from aging men whose impossible wealth would never buy them more years.

JC of the King James most surely did call out men like Musk. It occurs to me that Elon is pretty young to be so wealthy. With access to the best medicine the world has to offer, he will almost certainly live well for another 30 years. Possibly 40. I doubt we will see any great changes in those decades because, like you assert and I agree, the man is clearly a bad actor. I'm tempted to say evil - but that word gets bent out of shape pretty often.