Gates, Buffett, and the Man Who Invented Giving It All Away — THEY HATED HIM TOO Part 2 Carnegie

History Onion · 2:59

Today, billionaire philanthropy is widely dismissed as a scam — a tax dodge, a PR stunt, a way to launder a name. But the man who first made giving-it-back a public doctrine meant every word. Andrew Carnegie came to America a penniless Scottish boy, built the largest steel empire on earth, and was hated too — and after Homestead, where his chairman Henry Clay Frick broke the union with Pinkerton guns and seven men died, he had blood on his ledger and knew it. Then he gave away 90% of his fortune — $350 million — and built more than 2,500 free public libraries, open to anyone, however poor. When Gates and Buffett pledge their fortunes away today, they're following the script Carnegie wrote in 1889. Argue about their motives all you like — but the libraries are still open. Follow for Part 3 — The Medici. Some scenes are cinematic reconstructions of documented events. All quotes, dates, and sources are historically verified. #history #carnegie #elonmusk #gildedage #billionaire