It isn't unusual for billionaires to give away money. When the billionaires giving money away are Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, it is good, but old, news. But when billionaires Gates and Buffett call out their fellow billionaires to pledge 50 percent of their fortunes to charity, people tend to notice. The billionaire philanthropists announced a campaign Wednesday that is here to persuade America’s billionaires to sign a “Giving Pledge” to donate most of their wealth to the causes of their choice.
Source for this article: Gates and Buffett urge billionaires to give away half their money By Personal Money Store
The pledge for the Gates Buffet charity
The charity drive is called "The Giving Pledge." The Associated Press reports that the two men, who have become friends and philanthropic colleagues, are asking the super-rich to sign a pledge making a public statement that they will donate either during their lifetime or at the time of their death to the charities of their choice. Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in a letter introducing The Giving Pledge that he couldn’t be happier with the decision he made in 2006, when he gave 99 percent of his roughly $ 47 billion fortune to charity.
Some billionaire philanthropists
Buffett’s billionaire philanthropy will eventually split most of his shares of his company between five charitable foundations, with the largest sum going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Reuters reports that Bill and Melinda Gates have given more than $ 28 billion of their money to their foundation. Since the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began in 1994, it has given away more than $ 22 billion for health improvements in poor countries and to improve access to education and career opportunities for Americans.
The real billionaire list
On the billionaire list, Bill Gates had held the title of world’s richest 14 years. He was beat out for number one on the billionaire list in 2010 by Mexican tycoon Slim Helu, whose fortune swelled by $ 18.5 billion in 12 months to an estimated $ 53.5 billion. Gates is now ranked second richest man in the world with $ 53 billion, when Buffett came in at No. 3 with $ 47 billion.
Will billionaires give money away?
The U.S. has at least 400 billionaires – which is one of the most within the world — with a net worth Forbes estimates at $ 1.2 trillion. If Buffett and Gates could convince America’s billionaires to give half their fortunes to charity it would change the nature of philanthropy. Fortune, which broke the story, reports that IRS facts for 2007 show the 400 biggest taxpayers had a total adjusted income of $ 138 billion, and just a lot more than $ 11 billion was taken as a charitable deduction — about 8 percent Fortune, which broke the story, reports that IRS facts for 2007 show that the 400 biggest taxpayers had a complete total adjusted income of $ 138 billion, and just more than $ 11 billion was taken as a charitable deduction — about 8 percent. If all the billionaires give money away, nevertheless unlikely, about $ 69 billion would flood the coffers for the common good.
Charity goals for Gates and Buffet
The campaign started just over a year ago, when Gates and Buffett — who represent a combined net worth of $ 90 billion, according to Forbes — invited various billionaires to a secret dinner meeting in New York. MSNBC reports the group ended up settling on a goal of 50 percent of net worth. They set up a website, givingpledge.org, to promote the campaign. If the individuals on the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans pledged half their net worth to charity, that amount donated would be around $ 600 billion.
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Associated Press
google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h23rkKsJ_qiBk01fiixWfsYsj_rgD9GCG4700
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65F5CC20100616
Fortune
features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/16/gates-buffett-600-billion-dollar-philanthropy-challenge/
MSNBC
msnbc.msn.com/id/37731478/ns/us_news-giving/
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