The Giving Pledge: Which Wealthy Families Are Joining Buffett And Gates? (PHOTOS)

Billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates have pledged to give the majority of their fortunes to charity -- and have asked other wealthy American families to do the same. Today, they announced that 40 families have accepted the challenge. In order to meet the terms set out by Buffett and the Gates family, participants had to agree to give at least half of their wealth away to charitable causes.

The information below was collected from GivingPledge.org, a website set up to provide a full list of the individuals and families who are a part of 'The Giving Pledge.'

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Eli and Edythe Broad

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Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, have pledged to give away 75 percent of their fortune within their lifetimes. The Broad Foundation supports arts organizations, funds advancements in medical science and advocates for education reform.

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Billionaire businessman and real estate mogul Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, have pledged to give away 75 percent of their fortune within their lifetimes. The Broad Foundation supports arts organizations, funds advancements in medical science and advocates for education reform.

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Comments

[Malcom Reynolds]

09:59 PM on 09/20/2010

Yeah. I think the rich should be more philanthropic. Those who have should help those who have not.
http://www.cathospitalofchicago.com

[tbli]

10:58 AM on 08/22/2010

Traditional philanthropy takes the principal and invests the money to achieve only financial returns, and gives away 5% to maintain non-profit status. Few of these large endowments, family offices, individuals, etc. try to achieve financial returns as well as achieving a positive social and environmental impact (impact investing). This traditional philanthropic route, namely give away 5%, which represents a portion of the interest, to charity, is a very poor use of capital. If the asset owner created a portfolio that achieved social, environmental, as well as financial returns, 100% of the money would be leveraged. In addition, if 5% of the returns were given away, the total leverage would be 105%.
A majority of philanthropy is ego. People love to cut ribbons, see their names on buildings, wings, plaques, etc. If people are driven by ego, that is fine, but the taxpayer shouldn'tfinance this. By shifting from interest to principal, we impact more, and don’t require a tax break to mobilize the money. In the United States, Federal tax law requires philanthropies to give away 5% of their total assets each year to maintain their nonprofit status. In these days of tight budgets, it might not be such a bad idea if more money was invested in impact investing.
If Warren, Bill, and the other billionaires are listening, “how about really leveraging money for the commons, by doing impact investing and leveraging much more, without having to go around trying to convince people to give half their money away.

[arlandbaee]

09:55 PM on 08/09/2010

Does anyone else believe that financing charities in such large amounts promotes continued poverty? I heard this the other day and I have been thinking on it ever since.

[KJLSanDiego]

07:24 PM on 08/09/2010

Star Wars is looking even more awesome now!

[MyTake]

04:01 PM on 08/08/2010

Oh, how nice. These wealthy elites, who have avoided taxation through the Foundation Law and through personal and income tax avoidance schemes want to donate to charity.

Sounds like dumping their visible wealth just ahead of an economic collapse which the Chinese say is about to envelope the United States. We can't have these super wealthy elites holding so much wealth when the Nation's population is in crisis for the "little people" might just turn on them and torch their empires.

You know this is a scam from the start.

If they just took all this wealth being jettisoned and released the HYDROGEN economy, then the people would have their own independent source of electricity and could then shun the Corporate State in its entirety.

If that 4000 page IRS tax code was reduced to a single page denoting the federal income tax rate for a persons and a business, no exceptions, then, with everyone pulling their share of the tax load, this Nation would be out of debt entirely in short order.

A scam is a scam is a scam as once stated by the first ever BANKER.

[barb gantt]

04:53 PM on 08/07/2010

3 main US CORPORATION-JOB-LABOR betrayals:
OFFSHORE OUTSOURCE virtual immigration labor and INTERNAL illegal immigration labor.
The need for a flat tax for everyone and everything to simplify tax code and shrink
the huge overhead of the IRS and OFFSHORE OUTSOURCED American Jobs.

How many American MBA programs instruct their graduates to OFFSHORE OUTSOURCE US JOBS?
Nearly Half Of U.S. Tech Companies Outsource Offshore
http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/outsourcing/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206901364

Could Simplifying to a Flat tax bring Jobs back from Offshore Outsource?
DEATH TO MIDDLE CLASS is DEATH TO AMERICA
NEO CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS SINCE REAGAN HAVE BEEN DESTROYING US LABOR
and now Democrats are contributing as well.
40% of all taxes go to supporting IRS overhead.
Big Government White Collar Welfare Jobs need to go away...there is no work ethic there.

The top 2% does not OWN their obscene wealth that they now propose to GIVE AWAY.
The top 2% need to give their stolen millions-billions-trillions….
1. By moving their Offshore Outsourced businesses BACK TO THE USA.
2. By removing all illegal immigrant labor from their USA companies

For all your US Government entitlements and tax breaks and tax rebates…You SUPER rich
need to help restore your OWN COUNTRY that you have systematically destroyed
since JFK and especially since NeoCon reaganomics.
SUPER rich 2%...do not put yourself on a god pedestal by saving a foreign third world country,
FIRST SAVE YOUR OWN COUNTRY.

[glesslib]

04:18 PM on 08/07/2010

Jeez, I just got through reading all the comments here. Personally, most sound as if they were written by Scrooge's descendants, had he any. Yes, they give some of this money to avoid the tax consequences, but most of these people are civic-minded individuals with a long history of giving. Reading the whiners here reminds me that, no only can't you please all the people all of the time, you can't please some people under any circumstances.

I say good for anyone who is willing to assist a fellow human being, regardless of motivation.
These people could have donated it all to a dog and cat hospital, or research into string quartets.

[Michael Valentine]

01:16 PM on 08/05/2010

A start.

[macweenie]

03:52 AM on 08/05/2010

These guys are billionaire geniuses right? Then I hate to sound unappreciative but why don't they take all of that money and create a bunch of new JOBS, in a bunch of new industries!!! I never go to the ballet, and I don't spend a whole lot of time in art museums, but I could sure as h3|| use a decent job! If they do THAT then not ONLY will they be helping people but they will also be making MORE money that they can 'donate' too if they wish.

I really don't want to be the most erudite homeless guy in the alley.

[Paros]

12:32 PM on 08/05/2010

businesses which operate to provide a product or service which also provide jobs with benefits but not huge profits for stock holders or mega salaries and bonuses for upper management.
They could do it if they chose.

[notredameguy]

01:32 AM on 08/05/2010

I want to give at least half my income away when I'm older too, and will as long as I make at least 120k (and will still give plenty if not).

Anyone who doubts that they can know whether a charity is legitimate hasn't done enough research (for starters, check out charitynavigator.org). Personally, I'd give mine to charities that will improve the lives of the most people, which probably means giving it to charities that fight diseases and hunger in developing countries (only a few dollars can provide vaccines, medication needed to prevent deaths from diarrhea, etc; that means saving a life with the money we spend on a fast food meal). Check out givingwhatwecan.org if you're interested learning about which charities that do the most good for people, saving the most lives and ending the most suffering.

As for why they talk about it in public, it encourages more people to donate, attempting to set a precedent (although some may be doing it more for publicity or alterior motives). I agree that giving away only to the point where it has no affect on their lives isn't nearly as honorable as someone who gives away much less when they aren't rich to start with. But, their donations will still do a lot of good for the people they are helping, which is what it is about in the end.

[Scandinavian007]

12:32 AM on 08/05/2010

Don't see Rubert Murdoch on this list. I guess he is aiming to leave an other type of legacy :(

[Builders]

02:04 PM on 08/05/2010

He is an Australian. His donations would be made there, if any. Why would he care about us, other than as a source of revenue? He is likely to be more closely aligned with the Chinese than with us, who I am sure have ample opportunities for giving.

[Scandinavian007]

04:23 PM on 08/06/2010

I know he is an Aussie. My point was kinda that while rest of the billionaires at least trying to do something good and leave a legacy, Mr Murdoch mainly just leaving Fox news to the world.

[MJinCanada]

10:45 PM on 08/06/2010

He's not Australian any more. They made him give up his citizenship.

[Durendal33]

09:23 PM on 08/04/2010

Thats odd, why announce something like that in public ? Seems to me those families must be scared of the coming revolution.

[thereisonlyoneparty]

11:41 PM on 08/04/2010

It shows that these people who have more money and accumulated wealth they can ever spend will give away some of it, though not enough to have any effect on their lives.

That means that they are good people, right? I mean if I gave away an amount of money that is inconsequential to me that would be news too, right? And it would prove that I am a good and caring person who is not greedy. Even though I still have my superyachts and mansions and I am not actually giving away the money until I cannot use it anymore.

But whatever. Carnagie said that dying rich as a disgrace and we remember his words even though he died wealthy. I guess it more about the thought of "good" than actually doing something.

[Zach Stein]

01:18 PM on 08/05/2010

They're giving away a large portion now, and most of the money in their wills will go to the various foundations... Bill Gates is gonna set up his kids to live comfortably with a few million, and the rest will go to the Gates foundation.

[ItWasntMeReally]

07:49 PM on 08/04/2010

Rush Limbaugh just pledged he is going to give 25 cents (not 25 percent, but 25 cents). But he's hoping in 10 years he'll double that amount.

[latrobe]

07:17 PM on 08/04/2010

Wow congratulation to those great Americans. Did I miss Oprah, Spielberg, Kennedy, Kerry, Heinz, Soros, PDittle....

[arlandbaee]

09:58 PM on 08/09/2010

Most of them have been giving year in and year out. Where have you been.