By Daniel Rigney
The Giving Pledge campaign, created in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, invites the world’s 1,600 or so billionaires to pledge at least half of their wealth to philanthropies. The campaign’s call to generosity recalls the example of steel baron Andrew Carnegie, a relentless social Darwinist in his business practice who, paradoxically, later undertook humanitarian projects in the conviction that “the man who dies rich, dies disgraced.”
As of 2014, only 122 of the world’s billionaires have joined in the Giving Pledge. Nearly a third of these 1,600 billionaires are Americans. I was curious to know how many of America’s hyperrich have pledged to give away most of their fortunes, so I consulted Forbes’ list of the richest 100 Americans, and compared it with the list of those who have made the Giving Pledge. I found that 22 Americans with assets over $4.5 billion (i.e., our richest 100) have made the pledge, while 78 have not.
Here, if you’re curious, is the roster of richest-100 Americans who have pledged to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropies. Make of it what you will. These are just the facts. Bring your own interpretations (BYOI), and share them in a comment if you’d like.
Giving Pledgers (in order of wealth)
In
fairness, we really should give those on the second roster the benefit
of the doubt. Let’s assume that (a) they haven’t heard of the pledge, or
haven’t been asked to sign on; or (b) their checks are in the mail; or
(c) they’re planning to give away most of what they have, but they’re
too modest to trumpet their generosity in such a public and shamelessly
self-serving way.
The Giving Pledge campaign, created in 2010 by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, invites the world’s 1,600 or so billionaires to pledge at least half of their wealth to philanthropies. The campaign’s call to generosity recalls the example of steel baron Andrew Carnegie, a relentless social Darwinist in his business practice who, paradoxically, later undertook humanitarian projects in the conviction that “the man who dies rich, dies disgraced.”
As of 2014, only 122 of the world’s billionaires have joined in the Giving Pledge. Nearly a third of these 1,600 billionaires are Americans. I was curious to know how many of America’s hyperrich have pledged to give away most of their fortunes, so I consulted Forbes’ list of the richest 100 Americans, and compared it with the list of those who have made the Giving Pledge. I found that 22 Americans with assets over $4.5 billion (i.e., our richest 100) have made the pledge, while 78 have not.
Here, if you’re curious, is the roster of richest-100 Americans who have pledged to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropies. Make of it what you will. These are just the facts. Bring your own interpretations (BYOI), and share them in a comment if you’d like.
Giving Pledgers (in order of wealth)
Bill Gates (Microsoft)
Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
Larry Ellison (Oracle)
Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP)
Carl Icahn (hedge funds)
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
Paul Allen (Microsoft, investments)
Ronald Perelman (leveraged buyouts)
Ray Dalio (hedge funds)
Harold Hamm (oil and gas)
James Simons (hedge funds)
Richard Kinder (pipelines)
George Kaiser (oil and gas, banking)
Harold Simmons (investments)
Patrick Soon-Shiong (pharmaceuticals)
Pierre Omidvar (Ebay)
Eli Broad (investments)
Elon Musk (Tesla Motors)
Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna (Facebook)
David Green (retail)
Stephen Ross (real estate)
Gordon Moore (Intel)
For contrast, here’s a selection of widely recognized names among Forbes’ list of richest 100 Americans who have not made the pledge, for whatever reason.
Once again, we're fair and balanced. We report. You decide.
Greedheads (in order of wealth)
Charles Koch (diversified, including political investments)
David Koch (diversified, including political investments)
Christy Walton (Wal-Mart inheritance)
Alice Walton (Wal-Mart inheritance)
S. Robson Walton (Wal-Mart inheritance)
Sheldon Adelson (casinos, political investments)
Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com)
Larry Page (Google)
Sergey Brin (Google again?)
Forrest, Jacqueline and John Mars (health candy)
George Soros (What’s the deal, George?)
Steve Ballmer (Microsoft -- but not signing the pledge that Bill and Paul signed? Hmm.)
Phil Knight (Nike. Just do it, Phil, for sweatshop workers everywhere.)
Michael Dell (Dell)
Rupert Murdoch (media – Wall Street Journal, Fox News, tabloids, etc.)
Laurene Powell Jobs (Apple, Disney)
Samuel and Donald Newhouse (media)
Eric Schmidt (Google? Again?!)
Ralph Lauren (Ralph Lauren)
Leonard Lauder (Estee Lauder)
David Geffen (music, movies)
Charles Schwab (discount brokerage)
Henry Kravis (private equity)
Ann Walton Kroenke (Wal-Mart inheritance)
55 Others
Yeah, that’s probably
it. They’re too modest, preferring the discreet cover of anonymity to
the tawdry spectacle of public compassion.
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