What do you get when you give up half of your estate, and it’s worth millions or billions? You get respect. But what if you don’t give it away. Are you stingy?
The Giving Pledge is the brainchild of billionaire businessmen Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. The two of them have teamed up to ask the world’s wealthiest people to donate at least 50% of their fortunes to charities. They believe that the richest people in the world can eradicate many of the world’s problems through philanthropy. The pledge is not a binding contract but more of a “moral commitment”. Individuals are free to donate money to whatever cause they would like. So, far about 40 billionaires have accepted the giving pledge challenge. That’s not a large number when you consider that there are nearly 1,000 billionaires in the world, according to Forbes. So, who hasn’t signed up and for what reason?
- Meg Whitman: Former CEO of EBAY
- Oprah Winfrey: Enough said
- Walton Family: Wal Mart
There are many more that have not decided to give half of their estates yet. I personally don’t feel anyone should be compelled but rather they should give of their own free will.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett should be commended for coming up with the giving pledge idea. They have convinced 40 of the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to give back to society. If they want to convince the other 900 or so billionaires however, they have a whole lot more schmoozing to do.