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BILLIONAIRES TO GIVE AWAY HALF THEIR FORTUNE TO CHARITY


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Michael Bloomberg is among the the billionaires joining the campaign
Thursday August 5,2010
By Jo Willey Have your say(0)
THEY have more money than most people could ever imagine.


And now a group of 30 American billionaires are proving that there really is more to life than vast amounts of cash because the wealthy gang have pledged to give away at least 50 per cent of their wealth to charity.

It is part of a campaign by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates to raise money for good causes.

Among the billionaires joining the campaign are New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainment executive Barry Diller, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, media mogul Ted Turner, David Rockefeller and investor Ronald Perelman, according to The Giving Pledge campaign. It was started in June by Gates, whose £33billion fortune places him second on the Forbes magazine list of the world’s richest people, and Buffett, who ranks third on the list.

They wanted to persuade hundreds of US billionaires to join them in giving away most of their fortune during their lifetime or after their death and to publicly state their intention with a letter of explanation.

Buffet said: “We’ve really just started but already we’ve had a terrific response. The Giving Pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used.”

The pledge does not accept any money but simply asks billionaires to make a moral commitment to give away their wealth to charity.

In his Giving Pledge letter Bloomberg wrote: “I am enthusiastically taking the Giving Pledge, and nearly all of my net worth will be given away in the years ahead or left to my foundation.

“Making a difference in people’s lives – and seeing it with your own eyes – is perhaps the most satisfying thing you’ll ever do.”