I know it often seems like Americans are self-obsessed, narcissistic, and vain,

and that's because we are.

We're obsessed with ourselves. Think about how pissed off you get

when your phone doesn't recognize your face.

You're like, “Excuse me, Apple. Do you even know who I am?”

But it's important to remember Americans are also incredibly generous.

Last year, Americans donated $428 billion.

We're home to some of the biggest charities in the world.

United Way, Red Cross,

and of course, Go Fund Me,

the best way to help your friend get used DJ equipment.

Now, American charities even gave us those star-infested music videos.

-♪ We are the world ♪ -♪ We are the world ♪

-♪ We are the children ♪ -♪ We are the children ♪

♪ We are the ones who make a brighter day So let's start giving ♪

♪ Start giving ♪

♪ Stand tall, stand proud... ♪

♪ Voices that care ♪

Wait, wait, if you're trying to save the world,

your first thought shouldn't be, “Get me Jon Lovitz.”

He's like, “Kuwait. You're welcome.”

Now, here's what's strange, though.

Despite taking in record donations last year,

the actual number of Americans giving to charity

has been falling for almost fifteen straight years.

But the total share of donations coming from the ultra-rich is skyrocketing.

By one estimate, 30% of all charitable donations this year

are expected to come not from the top 1%,

but the top half of the 1%.

This is the penthouse on top of the penthouse.

These are the people who hire Elton John to babysit.

Which is a symptom of a much bigger problem,

wealth inequality.

Now, it's at historic levels.

The 400 richest Americans own more wealth

than the bottom 150 million adults.

Now the rich don't want us coming after them with pitchforks,

which is why you see this sort of thing.

I've committed to a $100 million challenge grant.

-$100 million? -$100 million.

Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo!

Michael Bloomberg making a huge donation,

$1.8 billion with a “B”

to John Hopkins University.

“The philanthropist Robert Smith

shocking the graduates

with an unexpected gift.”

My family is making a grant

to eliminate their student loans.

Okay, wiping out that debt

was only the second best part of that video.

The best part of that video is the guy's reaction in the corner.

...to eliminate their student loans.

Also, billionaires, come on. Stop giving out money through grants.

That shit's boring. I want to see cash exchanging hands.

Just once I want to see Warren Buffett giving out money like Drake.

♪ It's a lot of bad things That they wishin' and wishin' ♪

♪ And wishin' and wishin' and wishin' On me ♪

♪ Hey! ♪

♪ She say, “Do you love me?” I tell her, “Only partly” ♪

♪ I only love my bed and my mama I'm sorry ♪

Hey, you didn't think Buffett could go hard, right?

That's him on the weekend.

Now, it feels good watching good things happen to good people.

That's why we love when rich people donate to scholarships,

low income housing, school laptops, mosquito nets, and divorce settlements.

Look, I know it's sad,

but they can both afford to buy fresh brains with new memories.

But look, there's still a lot that's missing from this picture.

We always talk about how the rich make their money.

Right? But we almost never scrutinize how they give it away.

And that matters

because giving money away is one of the main ways

they justify being so rich to begin with.

That's why I want to talk about big philanthropy.

'Cause on paper it sounds great, right?

Rich people are trying to make the world a better place.

But are billionaires really going to save us?

And it is it worth everything that we give up

by letting them even be so rich?

Look, I'm not sure. 'Cause when you look at the big philanthropy-big picture

a little closer, there's a lot of problems.

For example, according to one estimate,

only about 9% of grant money makes it to communities of color.

9%. That's not good.

Now, look. I'm not saying charity is bad.

When you Venmo 200 bucks to a homeless shelter, that's a good thing.

But big philanthropy goes way beyond basic charity that you and I do.

It's a whole system of financial tools and products that help the rich

give away their cash in ways that benefit them.

From pooled income funds to private foundations,

which help rich donors pay less income, estate and capital gains tax.

Then there's something called DAFs or Donor-Advised Funds,

which Silicon Valley loves.

Donor-Advised Funds are kind of like

checking accounts for charities.

So, you put money in,

you get an immediate tax write-off

for the full amount.

Then you donate the money

to an actual charity later,

often much later because the money is

allowed to sit in the fund indefinitely.

Okay, that guy's collar is so tight,

I swear he's trying to hide a bad neck tattoo.

They're like, “Hamburger Helper?

What were you thinking, Robert?

How often do you eat it?”

So you can donate to a DAF,

take the tax break, but not actually send the money to a charity for years,

which might be why DAF donations have almost tripled since 2007.

Nothing triples that fast

except the number of songs Kanye writes about Jesus.

But...

Philanthropy doesn't just mean donations to traditional charities.

It also includes gifts to so-called “civic groups,”

or 501(c)(4)s, which promote social or political causes

while letting you keep your donations anonymous.

Yeah, anonymous.

Because nothing says the spirit of giving more than,

“Keep my name the fuck out of this.”

Now it's all perfectly legal with very little oversight,

and it helps billionaires change the world however they want.

And the kicker?

They get to pay less taxes.

Take Nicholas Woodman, the CEO of GoPro.

The only camera endorsed by downhill skiers

and Uber drivers afraid of being murdered.

Now, when GoPro went public in 2014,

Woodman was suddenly worth around $3 billion

and faced a tax bill in the tens of millions.

So when GoPro stock was near its peak,

Woodman and his wife gave $500 million

worth of stock to a DAF within a foundation,

which saved them millions of dollars in taxes.

But within months, GoPro started tanking.

So the value of their donation also started tanking,

but Woodman still got his $500 million tax write-off,

which he totally regretted.

A lot was made of how much money you are making, your foundation,

how much you were giving to the foundation.

There was a lot of controversy around that.

-Yeah. -Do you think that was fair?

No, but I also understand, um...

how the world works.

Ultimately, it's not whether it's fair or not.

Um, it's just...

uh, how you manage it and I try not to get too caught up in in all of that.

My man's like, “Don't hate the player, hate the inequitable financial structures

that incentivize unmitigated tax avoidance.”

Fair, but my problem is this.

How did he find the only thing

that looks dumber on your head than a GoPro?

Just... I can't.

Rich, just lower it, just...

Just...just...

Ah! There we go!

You're 44 years old, wear your hat like a normal person.

Billionaires avoiding taxes.

Look, just 'cause it's legal doesn't mean it's right.

It's like hosting a costume party called “Mysteries of the Orient.”

You can do it,

but don't.

This is why more and more people have been criticizing big philanthropy.

People like Anand Giridharadas, the best-selling author of Winners Take All.

You gotta lock yourself in a room to write a book.

There's a little window in my room. It just looks at the brick wall.

It's painful writing a book.

So, Anand, you write a lot about...

attacking the rich and yet you look like Stanley Tucci in The Hunger Games.

Wow. I have been told this before.

But you're the first person to ever take it

from Twitter troll responses

to an actual in-person interaction.

Why have you dedicated yourself to criticizing the ultra-rich?

Over the last few years, I noticed something

that profoundly offended me.

We live in this time in which rich people are everywhere.

Giving back, trying to change the world, make a difference, etc.

You came in, and you're like, “I don't trust that.”

Well, I also noticed a second thing, which didn't square with the first thing.

The same group of people who has lobbied for,

fought for, clung to an economy of injustice

have marketed themselves to us

as saviors, as in fact the solutions to the very problems

they are still busily causing.

They are getting public credit for solving,

and the causing never gets the same notoriety.

Now obviously, he isn't a fan

of the impact billionaires have on the rest of us.

So I asked him a question that's been making the rounds

with the presidential candidates.

Should we have billionaires?

I do not believe we should have billionaires.

What about black billionaires?

I like black billionaires more,

but the same system that allows there to be billionaires

is disenfranchising way more black people and all people

-than if we didn't have that. -So you want to check Oprah, Jay-Z

and Beyoncé and that one black dude who gave away all his money

-Yes. -and paid off everyone's college student debt?

You know, that's a perfect example.

Robert Smith was widely celebrated, and then it was revealed that Robert Smith

had defended this indefensible carried-interest tax loophole

that benefits private equity and people in his industry.

Okay, so this carried-interest loophole

pretty much only benefits hedge fund and private equity managers

like Robert Smith.

Now, here's how it works.

Robert Smith runs about a $50 billion fund.

Now when he makes his investors a profit, he gets to keep a big cut,

potentially, hundreds of millions of dollars.

It's pretty great.

But unlike you or me,

Smith doesn't have to pay income tax on those millions.

Instead, thanks to the loophole, he only has to pay capital gains tax,

which is way less.

Carried interest is the finance version of, “Hey, it happened on vacation,

so it doesn't count as cheating.”

Everyone know that's bullshit.

Cabo sex is still cheating.

But Smith has defended carried interest, which only makes income inequality worse.

Now, honestly,

I didn't know about any of this stuff when I spoke to Anand,

so I didn't take it very well.

What I am calling for is a world in which, yes,

the Robert Smiths will make and keep less money.

Come on. Now, you want to cancel Robert Smith?

We have made choices as a society

to be more friendly in our system to the Robert Smiths of the world

than to the 400 kids he helped.

Wait, can I just-- Why can't I just enjoy one NowThis video?

Like, when I saw that video on NowThis, I was like, “Robert Smith is awesome.”

There's better NowThis videos.

Next, you're going to tell me is that AOC's into dogfighting.

Don't fucking ruin everything for me.

Don't worry, AOC isn't into dog fighting,

but Bernie can't seem to get enough of it.

I know, I didn't see it coming, either.

Some of you guys are like, “Is that real?”

He's like, “Shih Tzus are the 1%.

They need to go. They're the 1% of dogs.”

Look, at the end of the day,

a rich philanthropist supporting a tax loophole isn't surprising,

but it's touches on one of big philanthropy's most insidious benefits,