This is one way to look at it. Another, is that the capital contributions of these investors allowed Lyft to afford to pay very good salaries to a large number of employees to work on a societally important project despite the company continuously burning through a ton of their cash. These investors took a huge risk (and are still taking a huge risk given how unprofitable the company currently is) and it easily could have gone the other way and still could.
If these investors eventually exit profitably, some portion of their gain will be used to cover the losses of other bets they made that didn't work out while some will be given to society at large through taxes. These investors are a huge net positive for the world.
It's completely reasonable to hold the opinion that they'd be an even bigger net positive if we increased the capital gains tax or had an even more progressive tax system (and I'd agree with ya!). Don't get confused though, even with the system as is, having investors who are willing to spend their money on society changing bets that probably won't work out rather than using it on themselves to buy an island or whatever is a very good thing for us all (even if it results in them being a billionaire rather than a millionaire at the end of it).
If these investors eventually exit profitably, some portion of their gain will be used to cover the losses of other bets they made that didn't work out while some will be given to society at large through taxes. These investors are a huge net positive for the world.
It's completely reasonable to hold the opinion that they'd be an even bigger net positive if we increased the capital gains tax or had an even more progressive tax system (and I'd agree with ya!). Don't get confused though, even with the system as is, having investors who are willing to spend their money on society changing bets that probably won't work out rather than using it on themselves to buy an island or whatever is a very good thing for us all (even if it results in them being a billionaire rather than a millionaire at the end of it).