Hack cancer. Visit the stars. Cure all diseases. Land on Mars. In 2016, it seems as if every other week a billionaire announces they have stumped up the cash to tackle a long-standing challenge that mere mortal scientists have failed to crack. Science gets a handsome injection of funds and the donor secures their legacy. But should we welcome the rich stepping up or question the motives behind research backed by the 1 per cent? Wealthy patronage of science took off in the 19th century but these days things are a little different. Rather than writing a cheque and getting their name on a building, like the Rockefellers and Carnegies of old, today's tycoons practise "venture philanthropy", modelled after the venture capital that funds Silicon Valley tech firms. "The time horizons are much shorter, the outcomes are well defined, and often the philanthropists are heavily involved in the process," says Benjamin Soskis at George Mason University in Virginia.
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