I live in los angeles and the proposed price is cheaper than taking a cab from the LAX to my place (4 miles). So no, this is not to help rich americans.

I think anyone who pays money to be transported from one place to another at high speed is too rich to be cared for by Bill Gates, from his perspective :)

There is a private bus service the runs between LA and SF for $40, which is probably less than the cab fare to the airport, or what a high speed rail ticket will end up costing.

http://www.lowfarebus.com/

In fairness, compared to the people he helps with his philanthropic work at the moment I'd hypothesise those this will affect are fairly "rich".

Actually Bill Gates is on record saying that if he had 'one wish' it would be for an awesome low emissions energy source.

When you consider the growth in air travel, and the fuel options for air travel, the Hyperloop IS effectively a low emission energy source. I suspect he's more than interested.

What about a $40 round trip ticket implies that those of us in LA County or the Bay Area are rich?

The 40 dollars. That is a huge amount of money is many parts of the world. Specially for the type of people Bill Gates philanthropic work is aimed at.

There's a difference between having 40 dollars, and having 40 dollars to spare :)