Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, worth $9.3 billion, says he refuses to set up a charitable foundation

Whether it's for tax purposes or out of a sense of compassion, the ultra-rich often make some sort of charitable contribution or philanthropic gesture from time to time. Sometimes it's billions, as in the case of Warren Buffett. Sometimes it's a rounding error on their fortune. Whatever the amount they give, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong thinks it's a bad idea.

On a recent appearance on the Katie Miller Podcast, Armstrong took what he called " a contrarian view " to philanthropy, saying "a lot of charities and philanthropies are actually net negative on the world. And they get captured. It's actually remarkably hard to find a foundation that has not gotten captured by ideology."

Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one

Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake. Here's what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP

The tax breaks in Trump's 'big beautiful bill' expire after 2028. Here are 4 moves to make before the window closes

He also noted that many philanthropic efforts are actually done out of selfishness, rather than generosity, pointing to Bill Gates.

"Like, Bill Gates after the DOJ thing is like, 'I'm going to go rehabilitate my image, I'm going to do philanthropy,'" he said.

Armstrong's net worth is estimated at $9.3 billion, making him the 413th richest man in the world, according to Bloomberg . Despite that, he said, he has no plans to undertake any philanthropic efforts.

"When you have a company go public, you get all these financial advisors around you and they're often, for various tax reasons, are like 'ok, we should set up this foundation for you'," he said. "And so far, I've just been like 'no I'm not going to do that' because my fear is it just gets captured by some ideology that I lose control of it. If you look at the Ford Foundation, I think Henry Ford would be turning over in his grave if he knew what they were up to."

Armstrong did say he has a donor advised fund, where he puts money towards things that he believes are helping civilization advance, but says he doesn't see himself creating a foundation – though he did warn he would never say never.

That's not to say Armstrong and Coinbase haven't given away money. Armstrong said he and his wife are fans of the mobile game The Battle for Polytopia . And he noticed tournaments for the game had small purses of €25, likely because the game's player base is fairly small.