His and his wife's is a proper foundation:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundat...

The money is out of their hands, and can't be distributed back to them.

Even in that case, he and his family will for a long time have the political benefit of deciding how the money will be spent. And political advantages usually translate into economical advantages, so it can also be viewed as a scheme at some level.

I don't think this cynicism is warranted. No matter how much benefit you think the goodwill of others is towards you for giving away your money, is dwarfed by the benefit of having billions of dollars.

If the political benefit really outweighed the costs, then every single billionaire would be doing the same thing, purely out of selfish interest. How many of them are?

> If the political benefit really outweighed the costs, then every single billionaire would be doing the same thing, purely out of selfish interest.

Well, they are doing for the selfish interest of feeling and looking good.

And I'm completely ok with that!

Lots of them are doing it. In fact, one of the oldest schemes devised by American billionaires is to start a foundation and to call themselves philanthropists. After all, how many billions you really need? It is better to take a portion of this money and invest in public relations.

Oh, sure, I'm not saying he is a saint or anything. But Gate's actions are very, very different than "I'm donating to a company I own and calling it an 'initiative'" Zuckerberg. That's a whole new level of dishonesty.

Not exactly, I'm pretty sure Bill Gates is a nonprofit. However, there's a book called "No Such Thing as a Free Gift" about the social costs of letting our .00001% be the welfare providers for society. Pretty good if you're interested.