What, $40b for a dying social media company that no one will remember in 25 years vs literally anything useful and enduring? My post office is 130 years old!

Those were needed because buying politicians and public favor was hard.

Now you just buy media.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding your comment, but one of the largest hospitals in the Bay Area is quite literally called Zuckerberg Hospital: https://www.zuckerbergsanfranciscogeneral.org/

Gates has given many billions to public health initiatives as well

Yes. ~7.5% of the cost contribution bought them the name on the building.

I think that the Gates foundation has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on malaria initiatives alone. When I lived in SF, Zuckerberg Hospital was pretty close and it was pretty gigantic. Mark Benioff has spent hundreds of millions on Childrens hospitals in Oakland and SF as well.