"Giving Back"?

An op-ed in the WSJ asks the provocative question of whether those like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet do more for society as businessmen than as philanthropists. I'd say yes. "Wealthy businessmen often feel obligated to 'give back.' Who says they've taken anything?":

What are the chances, after all, that the two forces behind the Giving Pledge will contribute anywhere near as much to the betterment of society through their charity as they have through their business pursuits? In building Microsoft, Bill Gates changed the way the world creates and shares knowledge. Warren Buffett's investments have birthed and grown innumerable profitable enterprises, making capital markets work more efficiently and enriching many in the process.

[...] While businesses may do more for the public good than they're given credit for, philanthropies may do less. Think about it for a moment: Can you point to a single charitable accomplishment that has been as transformative as, say, the cell phone or the birth-control pill? To the contrary, the literature on philanthropy is riddled with examples of failure, including examples where philanthropic efforts have actually left intended beneficiaries worse off. The Gates Foundation has itself acknowledged that one of its premier initiatives—a 10-year, $2 billion project to reorganize high schools around the country into schools with fewer than 400 students—was a complete bust. Good for them for admitting it. In that, they are unusual. In the failure, they are not.