The Giving Pledge Billionaires Donate Half of their Fortune

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Photo: Collected

Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, two of the world’s richest billionaires, started talking about a charity campaign called “The Giving Pledge” 13 years ago. This campaign asks wealthy people to give at least half of their wealth to charity, either while they are alive or after they die. This mission, which has also been called “the challenge of 600 billion dollars,” wants people to give back to the world instead of keeping their fortunes and leaving them to their children. This would keep the money in a few places instead of in the hands of many people.

More than 150 characters have “signed” with The Giving Pledge to say that they will give some of their money to charity. Even though this is not a contract and is more of a public show of support, they should keep their word.

The Giving Pledge Billionaires are helping with the project

Elon Musk

That’s how it is. Even though Elon Musk is well-known, he signed The Giving Pledge billionaires in 2012 as one of the donors. The man is in charge of both the car company Tesla and the company Space X, which wants to send people into space. Based on 2022 data, he is the richest person in the world. The businessman has said that he will give the organization half of his wealth.

Bill Gates 

Bill Gates is one of The Giving Pledge Billionaires list. He helped start this foundation, as we’ve already said. He recently donated more than $20 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest charity in the world. The businessman who made Microsoft has said that he will leave the list of the richest people in the world at some point. 

Warren Buffet

Bill Gates’s main partner in this project was Warren Buffett, who also helped find people to join. The leader of Berkshire Hathaway, who is also one of the richest people in the world, has said that he wants to give as much of his money to charity as he can before he dies. He won’t leave his family a huge fortune like Bill Gates did. That’s why, Warren Buffett is also a one of The Giving Pledge Billionaires list.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg signed The Giving Pledge in 2010 when Meta Platforms was still called Facebook. The man is also on the list of the richest people in the world. He hasn’t said how much money he plans to give to charity, but he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, set up an organization called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to help people in need.

Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison is the co-founder and former CEO of Oracle Corporation. He is worth about $89 billion and was one of the first people to sign The Giving Pledge in 2010.

MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett

Jeff Bezos’s first wife, MacKenzie Scott, is no longer with him (who does not appear on this list). She is one of the richest women in the world because she has shares in Amazon. She has also decided to give away a lot of that money. The businesswoman and her husband, Dan Jewett, also signed in 2019.

Here are some more names of rich people who have signed the campaign and became member of The Giving Pledge billionaires.

  • Azim Premji – Wipro
  • Vladimir Potanin – Interros
  • Jim Simons – Renaissance Technologies
  • Dustin Moskovitz – Facebook
  • Carl Icahn – Icahn Enterprises
  • Pierre and Pam Omidyar – eBay
  • Sam Bankman-Fried – FTX
  • John Doerr – Kleiner Perkins
  • Patrick Soon-Shiong – Abraxane, investments
  • Melinda GatesMicrosoft
  • George Lucas – Lucasfilm
  • George B. Kaiser – Kaiser Francis Oil Company
  • Henry Samueli – Broadcom Corporation
  • Jeffrey Skoll – eBay
  • Barron Hilton – Hilton Hotels
  • David Green – Hobby Lobby
  • Jeff T. Green – AdECN
  • David M. Rubenstein – The Carlyle Group 
  • Ronald O. Perelman – MacAndrews & Forbes
  • Walter Scott Jr. – Berkshire Hathaway