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The Giving Pledge
Charitable organization

The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. As of June 2022, the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, at a total of US$600 billion.

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Description

The organization's stated goal is to inspire the wealthy people of the world to give at least half of their net worth to philanthropy, either during their lifetime or upon their death. The pledge is a public gesture of an intention to give, not a legal contract.3 On the Giving Pledge's website, each individual or couple writes a letter explaining why they chose to give.4

History

In June 2010, the Giving Pledge campaign was formally announced and Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett began recruiting members.5 As of August 2010, the aggregate wealth of the first 40 pledgers was $125 billion.6 As of April 2011, 69 billionaires had joined the campaign and given a pledge,7 and by the following year, The Huffington Post reported that a total of 81 billionaires had pledged.8 By May 2017, 158 individuals and/or couples were listed as pledgers.910[needs update] Not all pledgers are billionaires.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was removed from the list in December 2022 following his arrest.11

Banker T. Denny Sanford had his name removed from the list in May 2023 following the unsealing of court documents about his possible involvement with child pornography.12

The Giving Pledge was cited as inspiration for the Jewish Future Pledge, a charitable campaign launched in 2020 to encourage American Jews to give at least half of their charitable giving to Jewish- or Israel-related causes.13

List of notable pledgers

Net worth is as of 2024 for notable signers. A full list of pledgers is available online.14

NameNet worth in billion US$Source of wealthIndustryYear of pledgeYear of death
Elon Musk320.0215Tesla, SpaceXElectric vehicles, Rocketry2012
Larry Ellison231.816OracleTech2010
Warren Buffett146.817Berkshire HathawayFinance & Investments2010
Bill Gates105.118MicrosoftSoftware, Tech2010
Mark Zuckerberg201.719Meta PlatformsTech2010
MacKenzie Scott38.6AmazonTech2019
Azim Premji12.3WiproTech2013
Vladimir Potanin23.720interrosInvestment2013
Jim Simons25.2Renaissance TechnologiesFinance & Investments20102024
Dustin Moskovitz24.04FacebookTech2010
Carl Icahn22Icahn EnterprisesFinance & Investments2010
Pierre Omidyar21.8eBayTech2010
Andrew Forrest20.8 (2023)21Fortescue Metals GroupMining201322
John Doerr12.723Kleiner PerkinsFinance & Investments2010
Patrick Soon-Shiong11.5Abraxane, investmentsHealthcare2010
Melinda French Gates11.4MicrosoftTech2010
Jack Dangermond9.2ESRIGeoinformatics, Environment2016
Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins9.2CanvaTech2021
George Lucas8.59LucasfilmMedia2010
Nikhil Kamath8ZerodhaFinance & Investments2023
Charles Feeney824DFS GroupLuxury retail20112023
George Kaiser7.6Kaiser-Francis Oil CompanyEnergy2010
Judith Faulkner7.525Epic SystemsTech201526
Yuri Milner6.827DST GlobalTechnology investing2013
Henry Samueli6.7Broadcom CorporationTech2011
Jeffrey Skoll6.1eBayTech2010
Mitchell and Emily Wei Rales5.4Danaher CorporationBusiness2019
Bernard Marcus4.528 to 6.129 (2019)The Home DepotRetail20102024
Barron Hilton4.5Hilton WorldwideServices20102019
David Green4.5Hobby LobbyRetail2010
Jeff Green4.4AdECNTech2021
Ronald Perelman4.3MacAndrews & ForbesFinance & Investments2010
David Rubenstein4.3The Carlyle GroupFinance & Investments2010
Walter Scott Jr.4.2Berkshire HathawayFinance & Investments20102021
Julian Robertson4.1Tiger ManagementFinance & Investments20102022
Anil Agrawal4Vedanta ResourcesMining2021
Thomas Secunda3.630Bloomberg L.PTech2010
B. R. Shetty3.5NMC HealthHealthcare2018
David Rockefeller3.3Standard Oil, inheritanceEnergy20102017
Ken Langone3.3The Home DepotRetail2010
Bill Ackman2.8Pershing Square Capital ManagementFinance & Investments2012
Charles Zegar2.831Bloomberg L.PTech2010
Peter G. Peterson2.8Blackstone GroupFinance & Investments20102018
Garrett Camp322.7UberTech2017
Brian Armstrong2.6CoinbaseCryptocurrency2018
Ted Turner2.433Cable News NetworkMedia2010
Herbert and Marion Sandler2.4Golden West Financial CorporationFinance & Investments2010
Gerry Lenfest and Marguerite Lenfest2.4Lenfest CommunicationsMedia20102018
T. Denny Sanford2.2First PREMIER BankFinance & Investments2010
James E. Stowers234Twentieth Century Mutual FundsFinance & Investments2010
Tom Steyer1.6Farallon CapitalFinance & Investments2010
George P. Mitchell1.6Mitchell Energy & Development CorpEnergy20102013
Ted Forstmann1.6Forstmann Little & CompanyFinance & Investments2010
Jon Huntsman Sr.1.5Huntsman CorporationManufacturing2010
Mark Pincus1.4ZyngaTech2022
Sidney Kimmel1.4Jones Apparel GroupFashion & Cosmetics2010
Irwin M. Jacobs1.2QualcommTech2010
Bernard Osher1.135Golden West Financial CorporationFinance & Investments2010
Duncan MacMillan1.1Bloomberg L.PTech2010
Lorry I. Lokey1Business WireMedia20102022
Sanford I. Weill136 (2021)Shearson Loeb RhoadesFinance & Investments2010
John Morgridge1Cisco SystemsTech2010
Tom Monaghan1Domino's PizzaFood & Beverage2010
Lyda Hill1Hunt Oil Company, inheritanceEnergy2010
Anne Wojcicki0.823andMeGenealogy2022
Shelby White0.6Leon Levy, Odyssey PartnersFinance & Investments2010
T. Boone Pickens0.5Mesa Petroleum, BP Capital ManagementEnergy, Finance & Investments20102019

See also

References

  1. "FAQ: How many people have joined the Giving Pledge, and where are they from?". The Giving Pledge. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022. https://www.givingpledge.org/faq/ ↩

  2. "Global Billionaire Population: The Billionaire Census 2018". Wealth-X. Archived from the original on 6 January 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2020. https://www.wealthx.com/report/the-wealth-x-billionaire-census-2018/ ↩

  3. "Forty U.S. billionaires pledge to give half their money to charity". Xinhua News Agency. 4 August 2010. Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010. A statement from the Giving Pledge website said "the pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract." https://web.archive.org/web/20100811032238/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/05/c_13430367.htm ↩

  4. The Giving Pledge :: Pledger Profiles Archived 2017-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 16 May 2017 https://givingpledge.org/index.html ↩

  5. Carol Loomis (16 June 2010). "The $600 billion challenge". Fortune. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2016. /wiki/Carol_Loomis ↩

  6. Blackburn, Bradley (4 August 2010). "The Giving Pledge: Billionaires Promise to Donate at Least Half Their Fortunes to Charity". ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2010. https://abcnews.go.com/WN/bill-gates-warren-buffett-organize-billionaire-giving-pledge/story?id=11325984 ↩

  7. 10 More U.S. Families Commit to the Giving Pledge [1], retrieved 25 October 2011 https://givingpledge.org/PressRelease.aspx?date=04.28.2011 ↩

  8. ""Warren Buffett, Bill Gates Giving Pledge Gets 12 More Billionaires To Commit Over Half Of Their Fortunes", Huffington Post, April 20, 2012". Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/giving-pledge-warren-buffett-bill-gates_n_1441387.html ↩

  9. The Giving Pledge :: Pledger Profiles Archived 2017-04-17 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 16 May 2017 https://givingpledge.org/index.html ↩

  10. Lorenzetti, Laura (1 June 2016). "17 More Billionaires Join Buffett and Gates' Giving Pledge This Year". Fortune. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2016. http://fortune.com/2016/06/01/giving-pledge-new-members-2016/ ↩

  11. Alexander, Sophie (2022-12-14). "Sam Bankman-Fried Cut From Giving Pledge Website After Arrest". Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 2022-12-14. Retrieved 2023-08-05. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-14/sam-bankman-fried-cut-from-giving-pledge-website-after-arrest ↩

  12. McEvoy, Jemima (25 September 2023). "Billionaire T. Denny Sanford Cut From The Giving Pledge After Child Porn Probe Documents Released". Forbes. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2023/09/25/billionaire-t-denny-sanford-cut-from-the-giving-pledge-after-child-porn-probe-documents-released/?sh=51209ac15884 ↩

  13. Oster, Marcy (2020-05-14). "New Jewish giving pledge takes a page from Gates and Buffett initiative". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2023-10-09. Retrieved 9 October 2023. https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/new-jewish-giving-pledge-takes-a-page-from-gates-and-buffett-initiative ↩

  14. "Pledgers". The Giving Pledge. Retrieved February 23, 2024. https://givingpledge.org/pledgers ↩

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  16. "Larry Ellison". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2024-04-16. https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/ ↩

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  19. "Mark Zuckerberg". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2024-04-16. https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/ ↩

  20. "Vladimir Potanin". Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 22 November 2022. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/vladimir-o-potanin/?leadSource=uverify%20wall ↩

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  22. Robin, Myriam (2013-02-20). "Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest pledges to give away half his wealth". SmartCompany. Archived from the original on 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2023-02-24. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/innovation/andrew-twiggy-forrest-takes-pledge-to-give-away-half-his-wealth/ ↩

  23. "John Doerr". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2024-04-16. https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-doerr/ ↩

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  27. "Yuri Milner". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2024-01-30. https://www.forbes.com/profile/yuri-milner/ ↩

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