“If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?” said Billie Eilish, American singer and songwriter, at the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) magazine’s 2025 innovators award ceremony on Oct. 29.
At the award ceremony, where Eilish accepted the music innovation award, she used the time she had to give a brief speech to discuss her belief that the wealthy should donate more. She also discussed the current state of the world, which she described as bad.
Soon after, a clip of her message got the public’s attention as Eilish said, “Give your money away, shorties,” in a room full of billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg.
Controversy arose around what she said. While some frowned and gritted their teeth from the audience, others applauded her for speaking up about wealth inequality.
“I was definitely very grateful that she came out with this speech because there are so many people who aren’t very fortunate,” said Maya McGinlay, an Eilish fan and junior at Carlmont High School.
At the same time as her speech, Stephen Colbert, who introduced Eilish to the audience, announced her $11.5 million donation, which went toward food equality, combating carbon pollution, addressing climate change, and other causes.
According to Forbes, her net worth is approximately $53 million, making this donation worth about 21.7% of her total net worth. Compared to others, this is a tremendous amount. For example, as a couple, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, who have a total net worth of $232.8 billion according to Forbes, have donated only 2.1% of their total net worth.
Numerically speaking, they did give away more money, but statistically speaking, Eilish has made a greater effort, and her fans appreciate it.
“She shared about a quarter of her wealth, and it’s such a big deal because she has way less than them, but she’s still giving way more than they ever did,” McGinlay said.
Andrew Ramroth, a teacher at Carlmont High School, recognizes the importance of someone in Eilish’s position making such a remark, despite not knowing much about her, and acknowledges the relevance of the issue of wealth inequality.
“Wealth inequality is growing and growing over time, so the more people in the public eye raise concern, more people in society may be clued in for the need for change,” Ramroth said.
According to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of ST. Louis, during the fourth quarter of 2024, households with the top 10% of wealth in the US hold 67.2% of total household wealth. In comparison, the bottom 50% have only 2.5% of total household wealth.
People today face numerous issues due to a lack of financial resources. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2021, the official poverty rate was 11.6%, with about 37.9 million people in poverty. Money helps unlock access to good healthcare, food security, shelter, education, and many other opportunities for people, and is especially important for those with less money. However, some who donate may not have the good intentions of helping with these issues.
“I would say that billionaires or public figures donate for two reasons. One is that they want to advocate for a cause, and the other is to make a public statement to show the world that they are philanthropic and worthy of admiration,” said Jaysie Ho, a junior at Carlmont High School.
The reasons why people donate are diverse. According to a study by ARNOVA, some people donate for reasons like altruism, a selfless want to help others or out of trust for an organization. Others donate for reasons like social obligations, tax benefits, and egoism.
“It is important to have a reason other than to make yourself feel better or to make yourself look like a better person than you actually are,” McGinlay said.
However, donating still helps those around the world who are struggling, and despite reasons, it is still a noble and admirable cause.
“I don’t think it matters why someone donates because, at the end of the day, the money is still given to people who need it,” Ho said.
