Moneymakers with little interest in cultural philanthropy or art collecting. That’s what Tristram Hunt, the director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, called tech billionaires last week. The former Labour MP told the Cliveden Literary Festival that the richest entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Europe were not following the gilded lead set by the billionaire businessmen of the past. “Their passions in terms of philanthropy are often not connected to cultural institutions,” he said. Oliver Barker, the European chairman of Sotheby’s auctioneers, who was also at the festival, added that Silicon Valley’s elite had little interest in or knowledge of the art market. Hunt and Barker have a point — up to a point. They’re wrong that techies don’t care for art. Paul Allen, the
Tech billionaires have been criticised for spending their fortunes on philanthropic projects other that those in the arts their predecessors once supported. Microsoft chairman Paul Allen said Europe ’s elite had little interest or knowledge in the art market. Many of them do spend money on art, however, and the late Apple co-founder Paul Allen had a large collection of paintings and founded a museum of pop culture. Art collector and former Apple executive Oliver Barker said age might be the issue with many billionaires too young to appreciate art.