Online Public Relations Thoughts

 Elon Musk has just passed Jeff Bezos to become the richest person with a net worth of $185 billion.  That is unimaginable wealth and puts to shame the Vanderbilts, Carnegies, Rockefellers and Astors of the 19th Century.  The question now is what is he going to do with it.  There is a tradition in America of giving back after one builds wealth.  It is what Bill and Melinda Gates are doing along with others who have pledged to donate their money to good causes.  Philanthropy is a good PR strategy to dampen criticism.  It helps people forget how the .5% made their dollars.  Gates, for one, was known for a fierce competitiveness that lashed his employees forward.  Musk has his own quirks as does Bezos.  The gulf between the super-rich and the poor is so wide it is nearly incalculable.  Look for the Federal government to get involved with taxation to reduce inequity, but even with that, the richest face a question of how they want to be best remembered.