Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

ALLY MARECEK—THE SANTA CLARA

Corporate coronavirus donations shouldn’t be a beauty pageant

As the coronavirus has stormed into every nook and cranny of the globe, many companies—small businesses and large corporations alike—have stepped up to the plate and committed themselves to making an impact during a time of great hardship.

Many have done amazing work. Johnson & Johnson has worked tirelessly to not only develop medicines to help abate the symptoms of coronavirus, but also to spearhead projects aimed at the search for a vaccine. According to the New York Times, many distilleries and breweries in both the United States and in Europe have taken to producing pure alcohol and hand sanitizer to help people combat the virus. 10th Mountain Whiskey & Spirit Company, a small Colorado company, has made a point of giving their products away to those around their distillery.

Though these donations have their impact, the work of some larger business giants leave me with a burning, Seinfeldian query. “Really?”

Take, for instance, Ferrari. This world-renowned company has repeatedly blessed the motoring world. The auto manufacturer is the origin of unparalleled, screaming v12 engines, some of the best hypercars and supercars the world has ever seen—all wrapped in their signature red paint and badged with a prancing horse. But in the time of coronavirus, the company has failed to balance its automotive performance with philanthropic excellence.

It was during my daily Twitter scroll that I saw an article about one of Ferrari’s donations. The article, one from DRIVETRIBE, was teased with evident adoration of the company. According to the article, Ferrari had made a donation of 1 million euros to help combat coronavirus. Not bad. One million euros is 1 million euros.

Further, the Agnelli family, owners of Ferrari among other automotive marques including Ferrari parent company Fiat Chrysler, made a donation of 10 million euros and purchased 150 ventilators for Italy. This too appears wonderful. That is of course until you pull back the curtain.

As it turns out, the first donation, using estimates from NYU Stern School of Business, only accounts for 0.0037 percent of the company’s 29 billion euro valuation, according to U.S. News and World Report. Furthermore, the donation was sourced from Ferrari’s customers—not dredged up from the company’s deep pockets. That’s right. This so-called Ferrari donation was made in fact by owners of their cars, rather than the company itself.

And for the Agnellis? Sure, 10 million euros is a lot of money. That amount alone however only accounts for 0.0058 percent of Exor Inc.’s asset valuation, the holding company under which Fiat Chrysler is owned. Further, their donations—both those from Ferrari and the Agnellis—will only be made available for the country of Italy. While of course Ferrari alone may not be obligated to make their donation globally accessible, the Agnellis, given their ownership of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles—a corporation which owns Jeep, Dodge and Ram among other non-Italian marques—have a responsibility to provide aid to a world beyond their own.

But of course none of this makes the headlines. These titans are able to make microscopic donations under the expectation that their donations will be accepted with open arms and deposited to the sound of an angelic chorus. The fact of the matter is that all this is financial pageantry—fragments of vast fortunes being dusted over dying COVID-19 patients like breadcrumbs.

By making it into global headlines, these companies also are given advertising at a discounted rate. I for one don’t think it’s any coincidence that Ferrari plans to roll out two new models at the end of the year even in light of the virus.

So, in efforts to not be too bleak, there are those who we can look to for fine examples of philanthropy. Jack Dorsey, founder of Square and Twitter, made a $1 billion donation to help aid coronavirus efforts—a donation which zapped him of a third of his wealth. Bill Gates, well-known founder of Microsoft, has donated $100 million dollars and pledged to fund factories working on coronavirus vaccines. This process will take in excess of a year and will cost multiple billions of dollars.

Thankfully, the list goes on. Thousands of people the world over with vast coffers have taken steps to meaningfully impact this global pandemic. But we have a role in this. We have the choice to separate the wheat from the chaff. It is our duty to do our research and cheer on only those making real sacrifices while the world burns.

I encourage you to look deeper. When you see recognizable names touting large figures, compare that to what they have stored away. Find out for yourself how much they really care.