40 billionaires pledge to give away half of wealth

Discussion in 'The Guru's Pub' started by BetA, Aug 6, 2010.

  1. BetA

    BetA Ancient Guru

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    A little over a year after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett began hatching a plan over dinner to persuade America's wealthiest people to give most of their fortunes to charity, more than three-dozen individuals and families have agreed to take part, campaign organizers announced Wednesday.

    In addition to Buffett and Gates — America's two wealthiest individuals, with a combined net worth of $90 billion, according to Forbes — 38 other billionaires have signed The Giving Pledge. They include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainment executive Barry Diller, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, media mogul Ted Turner, David Rockefeller, film director George Lucas and investor Ronald Perelman.

    "We're off to a terrific start," Buffett, co-founder and chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a conference call also attended by Bloomberg and San Francisco hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer and his wife Kat Taylor, founder of OneCalifornia Bank.

    Buffett said he and Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, and Gates' wife Melinda made calls to fellow billionaires on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans — in many cases, people they had never met — to try to persuade them to join the giving pledge.

    "We contacted between 70 and 80 people to get the 40. A few were unavailable. We don’t give up on them. Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. We’ll keep on working," Buffett said.

    Bloomberg, who made the bulk of his estimated $17.5 billion fortune from financial news and information services company Bloomberg L.P., said it didn't make sense to leave everything to his children and have them go through life as members of "the lucky sperm club."

    "You don’t want to leave them so much money that it ruins their lives," Bloomberg said. "You want kids who can look back and say, 'Yeah my family helped me but I did something on my own.'"

    Added Steyer: "We need to support each other. I look at this as replanting your garden so that future generations will have a full bounty of crops."

    The United States has roughly 400 billionaires — about 40 percent of the world's total — with a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion, according to Forbes. If they all took the pledge, that would amount to at least $600 billion for charity.

    The 40 names that have pledged to date have a combined net worth surpassing $230 billion, according to Forbes. Several of them have said they plan to give away much more than 50 percent of their wealth. Buffett has promised to donate more than 99 percent of his wealth.

    The pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract. It does not involve pooling money or supporting one cause or organization. It's up to each person who signs the pledge how to divvy up their wealth.

    In letters on the givingpledge.org website, the 40 billionaires explain what motivated them to follow in the footsteps of Gates and Buffett.

    "I’m particularly thankful for my father’s advice to set goals so high that they can’t possibly be achieved during a lifetime and to give help where help is needed most," CNN founder Ted Turner said. "That inspiration keeps me energized and eager to keep working hard every day on giving back and making the world a better place for generations to come.”

    “My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages," filmmaker George Lucas said. "I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education.”

    Gates and Buffett hatched the idea of a giving campaign in mid-2009 at a secret dinner meeting in New York with a few select billionaires. The campaign went public this June.

    Buffett acknowledged that some wealthy people may find it beneficial to donate more so they can avoid or write off more taxes. But he said that's not the reason billionaires are taking the pledge.

    "Of the 20 or so people that I have talked to that have signed, not one of them has talked to me about taxes," Buffett said.

    "It may be a consideration but I think the motivation goes far, far beyond taxes."

    And of the billionaires contacted who didn't join the pledge?

    "There were a few people who gave answers that indicated their various dissatisfaction with government," Buffett said. "A few had dynastic ideas about wealth … an intergenerational compact with family to keep that going. And there were others who said, 'I’ve got a plane to catch and I'll have to hang up.'"

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    Thirty-eight US billionaires have pledged at least 50% of their wealth to charity through a campaign started by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

    They include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, CNN founder Ted Turner and entertainment executive Barry Diller.

    "The Giving Pledge" lists all the families and individuals who have committed to the project.

    The site says the pledge is a "moral commitment" not a "legal contract".
    Related stories

    * Who are the billionaire philanthropists?

    The campaign was started in June to convince US billionaires to give away at least half of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or after their deaths.

    "We've really just started but already we've had a terrific response," Mr Buffett said in a statement.

    He added: "The Giving Pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used."

    Those who pledge their money to "philanthropic causes and charitable organisations" must publicly state their intention through a letter of explanation.
    'Improving education'

    Other billionaires who have pledged large sums of their money include film producer George Lucas, philanthropist David Rockefeller and oil investor T Boone Pickens.

    "I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race," Mr Lucas wrote in his Giving Pledge letter.

    The organisation says many of the donors have committed to donating sums far greater than the 50% minimum level.

    "While the Giving Pledge is specifically focused on billionaires, the idea takes its inspiration from efforts in the past and at present that encourage and recognize givers of all financial means and backgrounds," says Givingpledge.org.
    Continue reading the main story


    I've long stated that I enjoy making money, and I enjoy giving it away”

    T Boone Pickens Oil investor

    Mr Buffett along with Mr Gates and his wife, Melinda, held numerous dinners with US billionaires in the past year to promote the campaign and urge America's financial elite to pledge.

    "I've long stated that I enjoy making money, and I enjoy giving it away. I like making money more, but giving it away is a close second," Mr Pickens wrote in a letter on Givingpledge.org.

    Mr Buffett, the chief executive of the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, pledged 99% of his money to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities in 2006.

    Forbes Magazine estimated Mr Buffett's wealth at $47bn (£29bn) in March.

    Bill Gates, who Forbes rates as the world's second wealthiest person, has also given away more than $28bn to his foundation.

    There are 403 billionaires living in the US, according to Forbes.

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    this is awesome,
    this is very nice news..dont u think?

    source:
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10870361

    gretez Beta

    edit, list of the ones that will do it ;)

    http://givingpledge.org/#enter
     
    Last edited: Aug 6, 2010
  2. Mufflore

    Mufflore Ancient Guru

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    Amazing, kudos in abundance!

    I just hope the charities involved are able to handle this amount of money without insider leeching, scams and bad management.
    Releasing funds over time would help avoid massive losses and catch scams while they are smaller in scale.
    Its so hard to give charity these days because of this.
     
  3. FULMTL

    FULMTL Ancient Guru

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    I was thinking the same thing Muff. I really hope the money goes where it is supposed to.
     
  4. nvlddmkm

    nvlddmkm Banned

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    I'd really only need about 50k. I'm not greedy. :)
     

  5. dark_surge

    dark_surge Master Guru

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    I'm with you guys in saying that I hope it goes to the right place.

    That being said, I'm pleasantly surprised by this news.

    Personally, I think they should take a roadie and deliver the donations to individuals personally and skip the middle man. You hear stories of charities using a large minority of the proceeds for vacations and new vehicles all too often. And a large minority of 600 billion could easily buy islands. :)

    I'm sure the wealthiest people in the world have a pretty keen eye for fraudulent people though so I trust they'll know where it will be put to good use. :)
     
  6. Mkilbride

    Mkilbride Banned

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    Bill Gates man.

    That guy is to cool. He has so much money and like...he's not crazy and he doesn't lose it all. He puts it to good causes.
     
  7. evilkiller650

    evilkiller650 Ancient Guru

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    And yet, the charities will still be asking us for more. I've never 'believed' in the bigger charities but if I was billionaire, I'd personally go to areas and INSIST on seeing every single penny being used for good.
     
  8. Quicks

    Quicks Guest

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    Agree 100%
    This is very good of them.
     
  9. ibitato

    ibitato Guest

    if true, all my respect to them
     
  10. Mufflore

    Mufflore Ancient Guru

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    Then theres Mr jobs, lol.
     

  11. thecake90

    thecake90 Guest

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    Hopefully it'll be put to good use :pc1:
     
  12. H83

    H83 Ancient Guru

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    I wonder if i´m the only one skeptical about this "pledge"?...

    All of these billionaires are guys who got extremely rich doing some very questionable actions, to say the least, and all of the sudden they decide that they should share their wealth just like that?...

    Then a lot of money is being poured into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others foundations, that are almost tax free and that aren´t controlled by anyone...

    And why is it that they didn´t started by putting an end to some wrong business that their companies still continue to carry until this day?

    For me this seems like a publicity stunt or a tax evasion scam.

    I just hope i´m wrong on this one...
     
  13. Scorch666

    Scorch666 Ancient Guru

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    Ive got my wallet appeal ...... would that count ?:)
     
  14. IPlayNaked

    IPlayNaked Banned

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    What a troll, 40 people pledge to give away a small nation's worth of money to various charities of their choosing, and you talk about mythical "questionable actions"

    I'm curious to know what these "Questionable actions" are.
     
  15. hallryu

    hallryu Don Altobello

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    This is fantastic news, I hope that rather than just spreading the wealth around it is in some way invested so that it keeps giving. It must all be held on trust as well.
     

  16. dchalf10

    dchalf10 Banned

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    Thye article didn't give much creit to Bill and Melinda gates...the one's who actually started this with the B&M gates foundation a few years ago.

    Bill already gave half his fortune away a few years ago....but he made it all back within a few years. That is the only reason he isn't still the richest person in the world...because he gave 20+ billion away already ( before this new 28billion give away )
     
  17. AJ²06

    AJ²06 Ancient Guru

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    daangg ^^^
     
  18. nm+

    nm+ Don Cappuccino

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    Who'd have guessed that Apple would be the evil one?
     
  19. davetheshrew

    davetheshrew Guest

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    fair play to old Bill hes got the right idea, without him none of this would happen and the rich would continue to get richer. Brilliant news
     
  20. JxL

    JxL Ancient Guru

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    Who is all the money going to? US based charities or world-wide?
     

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