r/nextfuckinglevel • u/matori_tester • 1d ago

Billionaire speaker Robert F. Smith tells 400 graduates he's paying off all their student loans ($40 million in total)

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u/Poppanaattori89 1d ago

So inspirational. I really liked this part of his speech:

"Instead of getting the free education you deserve, here's some dirty money that I don't deserve to try to distract you from the fact that I don't deserve it."

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u/WZAWZDB13 1d ago

"I'll have made it back using questionable business practices before you've found a job."

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u/nikdahl 1d ago

This mother fucker bought the company I worked for, then layed me off. He can get fucked like every other billionaire.

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u/Qaaarl 1d ago

But what are 5 things you’ve done today? (Hard /s )

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u/WZAWZDB13 1d ago

1) Called this guy an asshole 2) 4 other things

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u/Bald_Nightmare 9h ago

You're hired

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u/MagicHarmony 1d ago

Exactly. Its so disingenuous.  He gave .0037% of his net worth away. What a saint and scholar. We should all be so lucky to have .0037% of our wealth to carry that much weight but for the average American that would be $148. 

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u/ninenineten 1d ago

Check your math, no shot this is correct

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u/lolwut19 1d ago

they’re a little bit off, I’m assuming they calculated by average or median income vs net worth. that being said, the numbers are still disgusting.

“…in October 2024, Forbes reported Smith’s net worth to be $10.8 billion, and that he was the 88th richest person in the United States.”

40 million divided by 10.8 billion = 0.0037

the median net worth in the US is $192,700. the average net worth is $1,063,700.

192,700*0.0037=712.99

1,063,700*0.0037=3,935.69

edit: average income in the US is $39,982.

39982*0.0037=147.933, so that’s where they got the $148 figure

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u/FritterEnjoyer 1d ago

.37% is literally 100 times larger than 0.0037%. That’s quite a bit more than “a little bit off” lol.

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u/lolwut19 1d ago

what are you talking about? “.37%” isn’t used anywhere in mine or their calculations

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u/FritterEnjoyer 1d ago

Ahh my bad, I assumed everybody opining on math here could convert decimals to percentages.

Real quick bud, google what .0037 is once converted to a percentage. It’ll blow your mind.

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u/lolwut19 1d ago

you understand there’s a way to talk to people without sounding like a miserable cunt right?

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u/FritterEnjoyer 1d ago

what are you talking about? “.37%” isn’t used anywhere in mine or their calculations

Bud, you’re the one that started with the posturing here. You’re just mad that you sounded like a jackass and I decided to match your energy.

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u/WZAWZDB13 1d ago

I think a lot of people don't really grasp how insanely much a billion is.

Someone with a single billion can give away 99,9% of their wealth and still be a millionaire, something most people won't ever be.

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u/TuckerCarlsonsOhface 1d ago

The difference between $1 billion and $1 million is about $1 billion.

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u/Blake404 1d ago

0.0037 is 0.37%, still crazy.. but you gotta multiply by 100 when calculating percent :)

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u/BabyWrinkles 1d ago

He could put $1B that he’ll never spend anyway (<10% of his net worth) into a trust that pays out 4% (generally considered a safe withdrawal rate to only draw down principal while accounting for inflation) and do this for every class going forward in perpetuity.

Just to give some context for how much a billion dollars is.

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u/Legirion 5h ago

That's how math and percentages work.

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u/SpadoCochi 1d ago

Reddit is something else man.

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u/MercenaryBard 1d ago

Seriously why can’t people just be stoked that we live at the mercy of the charity of billionaires? Personally, I get tears in my eyes and salute the giant flag I keep in my bedroom whenever I see a single one of the countless GoFundMe’s for cancer treatment get fulfilled.

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u/BrokeBMWkid 1d ago

Because rich guy bad and if you argue I’ll look at other comments to make sure I’m still thinking the right thing

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u/SpadoCochi 1d ago

Do I seem like someone that has a fucking flag in my bedroom?

This is a black man helping black students. Get the fuck out of here and out of a conversation you don’t care to understand.

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u/AnatomicalLog 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah, not falling for race reductionism. This is a billionaire who helped perpetuate an issue and is now taking credit for “fixing” it later. He’s not an ally, contrary to what his delusions of grandeur have him believe.

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u/SpadoCochi 1d ago

How do you feel about DEI?

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u/AnatomicalLog 1d ago edited 1d ago

I respect people of all races and value their inclusion. The principles of DEI can have positive outcomes, but I won’t pretend that state initiated DEI is a miracle remedy for all societal ills. Not that I really think DEI is relevant here.

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u/SpadoCochi 1d ago

Classic.

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u/AnatomicalLog 1d ago edited 1d ago

It sounds like you don’t have an actual path for argument so you’re pretending to be smug as if this conversation happened exactly like you wanted it to.

Classic.

Edit: check out this guy’s profile and you’ll see exactly whose side he’s on. Temporarily embarrassed billionaire

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u/Natural_Let3999 1d ago

Lol, you nailed it with that last sentence. People out here bootlicking, thinking that one day they too will get their billions.

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u/Oriin690 1d ago

Look past race and see the class.

The ultra rich have been “philanthropists” since the Robber Barons of the Gilded Age. They do it so people will say nice things about them, it’s to offset people talking about how they’re awful to workers, unions, the environment etc.

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u/MagnanimosDesolation 1d ago

Last time this was posted somebody pointed out that he got convicted of $200 something million in tax fraud. It literally is stolen money.

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u/FunSpiritual7596 1d ago

Lol Christ

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u/DiaperFluid 1d ago

Right? Why the fuck should i care where he got the money? He couldve burned down an orphanage for all i care lmao. He just saved a ton of people from years or even decades of debt. Its not like getting a good job is guarenteed after you graduate. Id rather not start my career 100k+ in the hole lol

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u/TerribleBid8416 1d ago

What he doesn't tell you is HE actually won't be paying a cent. His business will and they'll write it off as a loss.

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u/Tricky_Big_8774 1d ago

At least he's participating in legal tax evasion this time...

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u/FunSpiritual7596 1d ago

Does it fucking matter

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u/AnatomicalLog 1d ago

Oh yeah baby keep radicalizing

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u/Poppanaattori89 1d ago edited 1d ago

Not sure if this is meant in the negative sense or the positive one. "Radicalism" as a term is used dublicitously. Level-headed people wanting to strip power from those that use it to uphold societal structures that oppress others and destroy the environment are called "radicals".

Those that radically think that economical gains or the benefit of the few are more important than democracy, community and the surival of humanity are called conservatives or neoliberals. So there's radicalism against the status quo and there's radicalism against what is just, what is right, what is fair, what is sustainable and what is useful. The first one is courage and the second one is evil or less dramatically corruption. But what they are called among those that conform are the exact opposites.

The thing that people seem to constantly forget is that practically every single nation is the product of rebellion. But as a result of intellectual laziness, pure apathy and the conformity to the status quo, it is seen that the rebels of yesterday are heroes and the rebels of today are villains and there's no overlap whatsoever.

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u/AnatomicalLog 1d ago

I mean radicalization in a positive sense, I am agreeing with you.

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u/Donuil23 1d ago

as a result of intellectual laziness, pure apathy and the conformity to the status quo, it is seen that the rebels of yesterday are heroes and the rebels of today are villains and there's no overlap whatsoever.

That is beautiful. Is this your line, or can I attribute it to someone specific?

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u/Poppanaattori89 1d ago

Well, thanks, friend. I think it's "original" in that I didn't directly quote anyone.

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u/Donuil23 1d ago

I'm writing it down as a poppanaatori then. People will think I'm referencing some ancient scholar, lol

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u/Cuffuf 1d ago

I mean he does deserve it he just also deserves the same 90% tax bracket that we used to have back in the 20th century.

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u/Gavooki 1d ago

At the same time, perpetuating the problem of high tuition costs.

If people keep paying for inflated costs, you're just going to get more inflated costs but they don't seem to teach that in college.

Lotta money to learn what you could read for free at a library or watch on YouTube these days.

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u/asmallercat 1d ago

Also he's worth $10 Billion. This is .4% of his net worth. This is the equivalent of a person with a net worth of $500k giving away $2,000, but actually even less because he could lose 90% of his wealth and his life would not change at all.

Billionaires should not exist.

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u/blazurp 1d ago

And a lot of that wealth was from all the tax evasion he's done. He's part of one of the largest tax evasion scams in the US.

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u/kirkpomidor 1d ago

Literally had to listen to the entire clip. Well played, too believable