The point of the comment is that in many minds there is a cutoff where "create value" looks like hoarding. One could argue that the Tzar and other monarchies created value by providing stable governance, organizing the nation, preventing the tyranny of the majority, as well as keeping out the invaders.
At some point, when the wealth gap is extreme enough and the circumstances of enough people is sufficiently degraded -these arguments stop holding weight.
> Is Bill Gates degrading or improving the lives of people on the whole? Same question for Elon Musk.
Only part of Bill Gates' wealth is attributable to the value he created. At least some of that wealth was due to establishing and protecting monopolies on desktop operating systems and office suites.
Yes, quite a bit of harm was done as a side effect of protecting those monopolies, not to mention from extending them into other markets. The simplest and most direct harm was an extra $50 tacked onto the price of every desktop PC purchased even if you didn't want (or already had) a copy of Windows.
As for Musk, it's early days yet, and his companies are still in "Blue Ocean Strategy" mode. We'll have to wait and see what happens once SpaceX and Tesla are defending an entrenched position.
The list of billionaires is expansive at this point in time. While there are some like Elon Musk who are directing the economy in ways that would be perceived to some like myself as positive. For the ~262 million people in the US who would be unable to afford a Tesla, will never go to the Moon or Mars, live paycheck to paycheck and may lack the education ( or interest ) in space to appreciate the science and technology advancements being made, These activities can best be summed up with this song inspired by the 1969 landings.
Of course he didn’t do it alone. But the people who got in early with Gates or Musk made out like bandits.
And the bigger question is - would Microsoft or Tesla happened at all with Gates or Musk? I mean, at least in Musk’s case everybody thought he was guaranteed to fail. I don’t begrudge his $1B of wealth in the least - he put his money where his mouth was when everyone else said it was dumb - but he was right.
It’s not like they Gate and Musk kept all the wealth for themselves. Didn’t Microsoft create several hundred millionaires? But if Gates and Musk were the key drivers for the very existence of the companies I don’t see any issue with them getting the lions shares of the returns.
At some point, when the wealth gap is extreme enough and the circumstances of enough people is sufficiently degraded -these arguments stop holding weight.