The Giving Pledge Explained
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., the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 countries.[1] Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, and as of 2023, their pledges are estimated at a total of US$600 billion.[2] However, there is no enforcement mechanism (signing the letter is an intention, not a formal commitment), and no restrictions on the charitable causes that signatories are allowed to support.
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.
History
In June 2010, the Giving Pledge campaign was formally announced and Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett began recruiting members.[4] As of August 2010, the aggregate wealth of the first 40 pledgers was $125 billion.[5] As of April 2011, 69 billionaires had joined the campaign and given a pledge,[6] and by the following year, The Huffington Post reported that a total of 81 billionaires had pledged.[7] By May 2017, 158 individuals and/or couples were listed as pledgers.[8] [9] Not all pledgers are billionaires.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was removed from the list in December 2022 following his arrest.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12]
List of notable pledgers
Net worth is as of 2022 for notable signers. A full list of pledgers is available online.[13]
!Name!Net worth in billion $US!Source of wealth!Industry!Year of pledge!Year of death| Elon Musk | 184.7[14] | Tesla, SpaceX | Electric vehicles, Rocketry | 2012 | |
| Larry Ellison | 148.7[15] | Oracle | Tech | 2010 | |
| Warren Buffett | 131.5[16] | Berkshire Hathaway | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| 128.9[17] | | Software, Tech | 2010 | |
| Mark Zuckerberg | 176[18] | Meta Platforms | Tech | 2010 | |
| MacKenzie Scott | 55 | Amazon | Tech | 2019 | |
| Azim Premji | 32.8 | Wipro | Tech | 2013 | |
| Vladimir Potanin | 31.4[19] | interros | Investment | 2013 | |
| Jim Simons | 25.2 | Renaissance Technologies | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2024 |
| Dustin Moskovitz | 24.04 | Facebook | Tech | 2010 | |
| Carl Icahn | 22 | Icahn Enterprises | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Pierre Omidyar | 21.8 | eBay | Tech | 2010 | |
| Andrew Forrest | 20.8 (2023)[20] | Fortescue Metals Group | Mining | 2013[21] | |
| John Doerr | 12.7[22] | Kleiner Perkins | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Patrick Soon-Shiong | 11.5 | Abraxane, investments | Healthcare | 2010 | |
| Melinda French Gates | 11.4 | Microsoft | Tech | 2010 | |
| Jack Dangermond | 9.2 | ESRI | Geoinformatics, Environment | 2016 | |
| Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins | 9.2 | Canva | Tech | 2021 | |
| George Lucas | 8.59 | Lucasfilm | Media | 2010 | |
| Nikhil Kamath | 8 | Zerodha | Finance & Investments | 2023 | |
| Charles Feeney | 8[23] | DFS Group | luxury retail | 2011 | 2023 |
| George Kaiser | 7.6 | Kaiser-Francis Oil Company | Energy | 2010 | |
| Judith Faulkner | 7.5[24] | Epic Systems | Tech | 2015[25] | |
| Yuri Milner | 6.8[26] | DST Global | Technology investing | 2013 | |
| 6.7 | | Tech | 2011 | |
| Jeffrey Skoll | 6.1 | eBay | Tech | 2010 | |
| Mitchell and Emily Wei Rales | 5.4 | Danaher Corporation | Business | 2019 | |
| Bernard Marcus | 4.5[27] to 6.1[28] (2019) | The Home Depot | Retail | 2010 | |
| Barron Hilton | 4.5 | Hilton Worldwide | Services | 2010 | 2019 |
| David Green | 4.5 | Hobby Lobby | Retail | 2010 | |
| Jeff Green | 4.4 | AdECN | Tech | 2021 | |
| Ronald Perelman | 4.3 | MacAndrews & Forbes | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| David Rubenstein | 4.3 | The Carlyle Group | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Walter Scott Jr. | 4.2 | Berkshire Hathaway | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2021 |
| Julian Robertson | 4.1 | Tiger Management | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2022 |
| Anil Agrawal | 4 | Vedanta Resources | Mining | 2021 | |
| Thomas Secunda | 3.6[29] | Bloomberg L.P | Tech | 2010 | |
| B. R. Shetty | 3.5 | NMC Health | Healthcare | 2018 | |
| David Rockefeller | 3.3 | Standard Oil, inheritance | Energy | 2010 | 2017 |
| Ken Langone | 3.3 | The Home Depot | Retail | 2010 | |
| 2.8 | | Finance & Investments | 2012 | |
| Charles Zegar | 2.8[30] | Bloomberg L.P | Tech | 2010 | |
| Peter G. Peterson | 2.8 | Blackstone Group | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2018 |
| Garrett Camp[31] | 2.7 | Uber | Tech | 2017 | |
| 2.6 | | Cryptocurrency | 2018 | |
| Ted Turner | 2.4[32] | Cable News Network | Media | 2010 | |
| Herbert and Marion Sandler | 2.4 | Golden West Financial Corporation | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Gerry Lenfest and Marguerite Lenfest | 2.4 | Lenfest Communications | Media | 2010 | 2018 |
| T. Denny Sanford | 2.2 | First PREMIER Bank | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| James E. Stowers | 2[33] | Twentieth Century Mutual Funds | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Tom Steyer | 1.6 | Farallon Capital | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| George P. Mitchell | 1.6 | Mitchell Energy & Development Corp | Energy | 2010 | |
| Ted Forstmann | 1.6 | Forstmann Little & Company | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Jon Huntsman Sr. | 1.5 | Huntsman Corporation | Manufacturing | 2010 | |
| 1.4 | | Tech | 2022 | |
| Sidney Kimmel | 1.4 | Jones Apparel Group | Fashion & Cosmetics | 2010 | |
| Irwin M. Jacobs | 1.2 | Qualcomm | Tech | 2010 | |
| Bernard Osher | 1.1[34] | Golden West Financial Corporation | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Duncan MacMillan | 1.1 | Bloomberg L.P | Tech | 2010 | |
| Lorry I. Lokey | 1 | Business Wire | Media | 2010 | 2022 |
| Sanford I. Weill | 1[35] (2021) | Shearson Loeb Rhoades | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| John Morgridge | 1 | Cisco Systems | Tech | 2010 | |
| Tom Monaghan | 1 | Domino's Pizza | Food & Beverage | 2010 | |
| Lyda Hill | 1 | Hunt Oil Company, inheritance | Energy | 2010 | |
| Anne Wojcicki | 0.8 | 23andMe | Genealogy | 2022 | |
| Shelby White | 0.6 | Leon Levy, Odyssey Partners | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| T. Boone Pickens | 0.5 | Mesa Petroleum, BP Capital Management | Energy, Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2019 | |
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: FAQ: How many people have joined the Giving Pledge, and where are they from?. 13 June 2022. The Giving Pledge. en-US. 22 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221022052019/https://www.givingpledge.org/faq/. live.
- Web site: Global Billionaire Population: The Billionaire Census 2018. 16 December 2020. Wealth-X. en-US. 6 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210106134958/https://www.wealthx.com/report/the-wealth-x-billionaire-census-2018/. live.
- News: Forty U.S. billionaires pledge to give half their money to charity. 4 August 2010. 5 August 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100811032238/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-08/05/c_13430367.htm. 11 August 2010. Xinhua News Agency. A statement from the Giving Pledge website said "the pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract.".
- Web site: The $600 billion challenge. 16 June 2010. Carol Loomis. Carol Loomis. Fortune. 20 October 2016. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201080003/http://fortune.com/2010/06/16/the-600-billion-challenge/?iid=sr-link1. live.
- News: The Giving Pledge: Billionaires Promise to Donate at Least Half Their Fortunes to Charity. Blackburn. Bradley. 4 August 2010. ABC News. 5 August 2010. 1 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180501071145/http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bill-gates-warren-buffett-organize-billionaire-giving-pledge/story?id=11325984. live.
- 10 More U.S. Families Commit to the Giving Pledge https://givingpledge.org/PressRelease.aspx?date=04.28.2011, retrieved 25 October 2011
- Web site: "Warren Buffett, Bill Gates Giving Pledge Gets 12 More Billionaires To Commit Over Half Of Their Fortunes", Huffington Post, April 20, 2012 . October 7, 2012 . May 2, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120502053545/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/giving-pledge-warren-buffett-bill-gates_n_1441387.html . live .
- http://givingpledge.org/index.html The Giving Pledge :: Pledger Profiles
- Web site: 17 More Billionaires Join Buffett and Gates' Giving Pledge This Year. Lorenzetti. Laura. 1 June 2016. Fortune. 20 October 2016. 12 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180612000357/http://fortune.com/2016/06/01/giving-pledge-new-members-2016/. live.
- News: Alexander . Sophie . 2022-12-14 . Sam Bankman-Fried Cut From Giving Pledge Website After Arrest . en . . live . 2023-08-05 . https://archive.today/20221214233146/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-14/sam-bankman-fried-cut-from-giving-pledge-website-after-arrest . 2022-12-14.
- News: McEvoy . Jemima . Billionaire T. Denny Sanford Cut From The Giving Pledge After Child Porn Probe Documents Released . 26 September 2023 . . 25 September 2023 . en . 26 September 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230926030346/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 . live .
- News: Oster . Marcy . New Jewish giving pledge takes a page from Gates and Buffett initiative . 9 October 2023 . Jewish Telegraphic Agency . 2020-05-14 . 2023-10-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231009071220/https://www.jta.org/quick-reads/new-jewish-giving-pledge-takes-a-page-from-gates-and-buffett-initiative . live .
- Web site: Pledgers . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220109225231/https://givingpledge.org/pledgers . 23 November 2022 . The Giving Pledge . 9 January 2022 .
- Web site: Elon Musk . 2024-04-16 . Forbes . en . 2014-02-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140210112624/http://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/ . live .
- Web site: Larry Ellison . 2024-04-16 . Forbes . en . 2018-01-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180131145538/https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/ . live .
- Web site: Warren Buffett . 2024-04-16 . Forbes . en . 2020-08-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200815130703/https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/ . live .
- Web site: Bill Gates . 2024-04-16 . Forbes . en . 2017-08-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170820124015/https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/ . live .
- Web site: Mark Zuckerberg . 2024-04-16 . Forbes . en . 2011-09-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110928173850/http://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/ . live .
- Web site: 22 November 2022 . Vladimir Potanin . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221123204429/https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/vladimir-o-potanin/?leadSource=uverify%20wall . 23 November 2022 . 23 November 2022 . Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
- Web site: Andrew Forrest . 2023-02-24 . Forbes . en . 2023-02-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230224052951/https://www.forbes.com/profile/andrew-forrest/ . live .
- Web site: Robin . Myriam . 2013-02-20 . Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest pledges to give away half his wealth . 2023-02-24 . SmartCompany . en-AU . 2023-02-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230224053501/https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/innovation/andrew-twiggy-forrest-takes-pledge-to-give-away-half-his-wealth/ . live .
- Web site: John Doerr . 2024-04-16 . Forbes . en . 2019-05-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190514090204/https://www.forbes.com/profile/john-doerr/ . live .
- News: Dwyer. Jim. 2017-01-05. 'James Bond of Philanthropy' Gives Away the Last of His Fortune. The New York Times. 2017-01-05. 2017-01-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20170110205331/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/05/nyregion/james-bond-of-philanthropy-gives-away-the-last-of-his-fortune.html?_r=0. live.
- Web site: Judy Faulkner. 2022-08-15. Forbes. en. 2022-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20220815192954/https://www.forbes.com/profile/judy-faulkner/?sh=22f3832c33b8. live.
- Web site: Judy Faulkner – The Giving Pledge. 2022-08-15. The Giving Pledge. en. 2022-08-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20220815192958/https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=194. live.
- Web site: Yuri Milner . 2024-01-30 . Forbes . en . 2017-07-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170710080059/https://www.forbes.com/profile/yuri-milner/ . live .
- News: Denham . Hannah . Home Depot co-founder plans to give away most of his billions . Washington Post . 2019-07-01 . 2022-11-16 . 2021-02-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210203021622/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/07/01/home-depot-co-founder-plans-give-away-most-his-billions/ . live .
- Web site: Nussbaum-Cohen . Debra . Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus on sunsetting his foundation . Jewish Insider . 2019-12-20 . 2022-11-16 . 2022-11-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221117214704/https://jewishinsider.com/2019/12/home-depot-founder-bernie-marcus-on-sunsetting-his-foundation/ . live .
- Web site: Thomas Secunda. 2021-12-29. Forbes. en. 2022-09-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20220901053651/https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-secunda/. live.
- Web site: 23 November 2022 . Charles Zegar . 23 November 2022 . Forbes Profile . 23 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221123211341/https://www.forbes.com/profile/charles-zegar/ . live .
- News: Uber and Infosys co-founders are latest billionaires to join The Giving Pledge. Kolodny. Lora. 2017-11-22. CNBC. 2017-12-16. 2017-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20171217014224/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/22/uber-and-infosys-co-founders-join-the-giving-pledge.html. live.
- Web site: 23 November 2022 . Ted Turner . . 23 November 2022 . 23 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221123211334/https://www.forbes.com/profile/ted-turner/ . live .
- Web site: James Stowers, U.S.. 2021-12-29. Forbes. en. 2022-02-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20220217095800/https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mjh45jdhi/james-stowers-u-s/. live.
- Web site: Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People 2005. 2021-12-29. www.forbes.com. 2021-12-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20211229130631/https://www.forbes.com/static/bill2005/LIRXFVQ.html?passListId=10&passYear=2005&passListType=Person&uniqueId=XFVQ&datatype=Person. live.
- Web site: 6 April 2021 . Sandy Weill . 23 November 2022 . Forbes Profile . 23 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221123211339/https://www.forbes.com/profile/sandy-weill/ . live .
