40 billionaire US families pledge to give away most of wealth
Howard Lake | 4 August 2010 | News
The Giving Pledge was announced last month following conversations between Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, and other philanthropists in the US and around the world. It is a moral commitment to give, rather than a legal contract. It does not involve pooling money or supporting a particular set of charities. Indeed, no money will be given out by the programme. The pledge is expressed publicly in order to help raise the profile of charitable giving “and create an atmosphere that can draw more people into philanthropy.”Forty of the wealthiest families and individuals in the USA have committed to donating the majority of their wealth to charitable causes by taking the Giving Pledge.
Initial pledge signatories include Michael R. Bloomberg, Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, Barron Hilton, Warren Buffett, George Lucas, Larry Ellison, Jeff Skoll, David Rockefeller, Paul G. Allen, Bill and Melinda Gates, Ted Turner, and Pierre and Pam Omidyar. They committed themselves to giving at least 50% of their wealth away, although some have pledged a much higher proportion.
Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, announced the first signatories just six weeks after the project was first announced. “We’ve really just started,” he said, “but already we’ve had a terrific response.
“At its core, the Giving Pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used. We’re delighted that so many people are doing just that – and that so many have decided to not only take this pledge but also to commit to sums far greater than the 50% minimum level.”
Bea Devlin, Head of International at the Charities Aid Foundation, welcomed the announcement. She commented:
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“We estimate that if all of the billionaires based in the UK decided to give over half of their wealth to charity then this would result in at least an additional £60 billion going to good causes, which would go a long way to solving some of the world’s most pressing problems.”
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.