Bill Gates
Bill and Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffet, Created Giving Pledge
Do you know about the Giving Pledge? I saw on Forbes.com that Bill Gates and wife Melinda, together with Warren Buffett, came up with the idea to get America’s wealthiest families to give away at least 50% of their wealth during their lifetimes, or upon their deaths, and write a letter explaining why. Since they launched the effort in June 2010, 91 people have signed on.
Some examples:
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has given away $2.4 billion. He has supported anti-tobacco efforts worldwide, clean air programs, education, government improvement, and the arts.
Carl Icahn, billionaire investor and chairman of Icahn Enterprises, has founded three charter schools in the South Bronx; its students have performed significantly better on the New York language and arts exams than the neighborhood average. His Icahn House in the Bronx houses homeless pregnant women and single women with children; he also supports a scholarship program at Choate.
