Stinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire

by Carl Rhodes

Overview

Billionaires are an ultra-elite social class whose numbers are growing alongside their obscene wealth while others struggle, suffer or even die.

They represent a scourge of economic inequality, but how do they get away with it? A set of dangerous and deceptive inter-connected myths portrays them as a ‘force for good’:

- the ‘heroic billionaire’ asserts they are gallant protagonists of the American Dream gone global

- the ‘generous billionaire’ pretends that their philanthropic efforts and personal good deeds should be lauded for generosity and benevolence

- the ‘meritorious billionaire’ insists that extreme wealth is a worthy reward for individual hard work and talent

- the ‘vigilante billionaire’ claims to be able to solve the world’s biggest problems where bureaucrats and politicians have failed.

Each of these myths enables billionaire wealth and power to set us back to old-style feudalism and plutocracy.

Offering a trenchant critique, this incisive book testifies to the growing international political will to take concrete actions in supporting economic justice and democratic equality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529239119
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	01/01/2026
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	218
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Carl Rhodes is Professor of Organization Studies and Dean of the Business School, University of Technology Sydney. He studies the ethical and democratic dimensions of business, the economy and work. He is author of the bestselling Woke Capitalism (Bristol UniversityPress, 2021) and a frequent commentator for the press in publications such as The Guardian, The Times, Fast Company, Business Insider and The Conversation.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Joel Bakan

Preface

1. The Righteous Rich

2. Money and Power

3. The Myth of the Heroic Billionaire

4. The Myth of the Generous Billionaire

5. The Myth of the Meritorious Billionaire

6. The Myth of the Vigilante Billionaire

7. Reasons for Hope

Editorial Reviews

Rhodes makes a cogent case that billionaires undermine democratic values by wielding their wealth while remaining unaccountable to people affected by their decisions.” Publishers Weekly

"Argues well against those who anti-democratically exercise the power that can come with, if not outright be purchased by, being a billionaire and among the better of several recent progressive critiques of, well, billionairehood." The Giving Review

"Rhodes discourages praising billionaires’ philanthropy, contending that while it’s laudable that Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard has pledged to dedicate much of his company’s profits to climate change initiatives, his example nonetheless demonstrates how the rich are free to set policy agendas without input from the public." Publishers Weekly

"For years billionaires have spent vast resources to portray themselves as heroic, generous and meritorious. As this book demonstrates, this ideology is a self-serving veil that appears increasingly misplaced and fragile to many. A must-read." Thomas Piketty, Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and author of Capital in the 21st Century

"In his brilliant exposure, Rhodes convincingly argues we must end our neoliberal governments’ complicity with the calamitous power of unrestricted wealth." Lynne Segal, Birkbeck, University of London, author of Lean on Me: A Radical Politics of Care.

"Rhodes skewers four myths around billionaires and shows how the failure of neoliberalism has led to a reaction against them, who were both its beneficiaries and its propagators." John Quiggin, University of Queensland

"Stinking Rich lifts the veil over the 'good' billionaire to reveal a world of unearned advantage, unaccountable power and market exploitation. A book with far-reaching implications", Myra Hamilton, author of The Privileged Few

"The deserving billionaire is a figment of their own imagination, a self-delusion functional to their struggle to legitimise their illegitimate, toxic wealth. Carl Rhodes explains why." Yanis Varoufakis, University of Athens

“Are the super-rich also super-virtuous? As Carl Rhodes shows, they would like us to think that they are – but in the end, they are only people, just wealthier than the rest of us”. Guido Alfani, Bocconi University, Milan (Italy). Author of As Gods Among Men. A History of the Rich in the West

"Today’s billionaire barons hide their disproportionate power behind the veneer of democratic affability and everyman relatability. Piercing the façade, this book deserves to be widely read”, Linsey McGoey, University of Essex, author of The Unknowers: How Strategic Ignorance Rules the World

From the Publisher