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I apologize if you felt offended by my remark, I think you're a good guy with usually different political points of view, I didn't mean it as an insult it's just that it seems that you're framing it as a black or white answer while I think it's shades of grey.
Oligarch: 2. a very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence (particularly with reference to individuals who benefited from the privatization of state-run industries after the collapse of the Soviet Union).
I'm not sure that Ballmer qualifies as an oligarch but billionaires can donate to politicians and to political causes and it has no bearing on their philanthropic pursuits. If he was donating to those Republicans and getting some special privilege in return then I wouldn't argue calling him an oligarch. Based on his actions described in the original post I responded to I'd argue he's a philanthropist but again I don't think they're mutually exclusive terms.
And if we're talking about billionaires like Gates, that has donated large parts of his wealth, what about a guy like Musk? Does he have a foundation to help those in need above any donations he might make for tax breaks? I'm not sure we can call him a philanthropist, but based on his endorsing Trump to the tune of 1/4 billion dollars and using the reach he has on Twitter to help him get elected, and then being given this unprecedented level of access to our government I wouldn't argue calling him an oligarch.
