# The Giving Pledge

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The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. As of June 2022, the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 countries. Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, at a total of US$600 billion.

## Description

The organization's stated goal is to inspire the wealthy people of the world to give at least half of their net worth to philanthropy, either during their lifetime or upon their death. The pledge is a public gesture of an intention to give, not a legal contract. On the Giving Pledge's website, each individual or couple writes a letter explaining why they chose to give.

## History

In June 2010, the Giving Pledge campaign was formally announced and Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett began recruiting members. As of August 2010, the aggregate wealth of the first 40 pledgers was $125 billion. As of April 2011, 69 billionaires had joined the campaign and given a pledge, and by the following year, The Huffington Post reported that a total of 81 billionaires had pledged. By May 2017, 158 individuals and/or couples were listed as pledgers. Not all pledgers are billionaires.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was removed from the list in December 2022 following his arrest.
Banker T. Denny Sanford had his name removed from the list in May 2023 following the unsealing of court documents about his possible involvement with child pornography.
The Giving Pledge was cited as inspiration for the Jewish Future Pledge, a charitable campaign launched in 2020 to encourage American Jews to give at least half of their charitable giving to Jewish- or Israel-related causes.

## List of notable pledgers

Net worth is as of 2024 for notable signers. A full list of pledgers is available online.
| Name | Net worth in billion US$ | Source of wealth | Industry | Year of pledge | Year of death |
| Elon Musk | 320.02 | Tesla, SpaceX | Electric vehicles, Rocketry | 2012 | |
| Larry Ellison | 231.8 | Oracle | Tech | 2010 | |
| Warren Buffett | 146.8 | Berkshire Hathaway | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Bill Gates | 105.1 | Microsoft | Software, Tech | 2010 | |
| Mark Zuckerberg | 201.7 | Meta Platforms | Tech | 2010 | |
| MacKenzie Scott | 38.6 | Amazon | Tech | 2019 | |
| Azim Premji | 12.3 | Wipro | Tech | 2013 | |
| Vladimir Potanin | 23.7 | interros | Investment | 2013 | |
| Jim Simons | 25.2 | Renaissance Technologies | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2024 |
| Dustin Moskovitz | 24.04 | Facebook | Tech | 2010 | |
| Carl Icahn | 22 | Icahn Enterprises | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Pierre Omidyar | 21.8 | eBay | Tech | 2010 | |
| Andrew Forrest | 20.8 (2023) | Fortescue Metals Group | Mining | 2013 | |
| John Doerr | 12.7 | Kleiner Perkins | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Patrick Soon-Shiong | 11.5 | Abraxane, investments | Healthcare | 2010 | |
| Melinda French Gates | 11.4 | Microsoft | Tech | 2010 | |
| Jack Dangermond | 9.2 | ESRI | Geoinformatics, Environment | 2016 | |
| Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins | 9.2 | Canva | Tech | 2021 | |
| George Lucas | 8.59 | Lucasfilm | Media | 2010 | |
| Nikhil Kamath | 8 | Zerodha | Finance & Investments | 2023 | |
| Charles Feeney | 8 | DFS Group | luxury retail | 2011 | 2023 |
| George Kaiser | 7.6 | Kaiser-Francis Oil Company | Energy | 2010 | |
| Judith Faulkner | 7.5 | Epic Systems | Tech | 2015 | |
| Yuri Milner | 6.8 | DST Global | Technology investing | 2013 | |
| Henry Samueli | 6.7 | Broadcom Corporation | Tech | 2011 | |
| Jeffrey Skoll | 6.1 | eBay | Tech | 2010 | |
| Mitchell and Emily Wei Rales | 5.4 | Danaher Corporation | Business | 2019 | |
| Bernard Marcus | 4.5 to 6.1 (2019) | The Home Depot | Retail | 2010 | 2024 |
| Barron Hilton | 4.5 | Hilton Worldwide | Services | 2010 | 2019 |
| David Green | 4.5 | Hobby Lobby | Retail | 2010 | |
| Jeff Green | 4.4 | AdECN | Tech | 2021 | |
| Ronald Perelman | 4.3 | MacAndrews & Forbes | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| David Rubenstein | 4.3 | The Carlyle Group | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Walter Scott Jr. | 4.2 | Berkshire Hathaway | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2021 |
| Julian Robertson | 4.1 | Tiger Management | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2022 |
| Anil Agrawal | 4 | Vedanta Resources | Mining | 2021 | |
| Thomas Secunda | 3.6 | Bloomberg L.P | Tech | 2010 | |
| B. R. Shetty | 3.5 | NMC Health | Healthcare | 2018 | |
| David Rockefeller | 3.3 | Standard Oil, inheritance | Energy | 2010 | 2017 |
| Ken Langone | 3.3 | The Home Depot | Retail | 2010 | |
| Bill Ackman | 2.8 | Pershing Square Capital Management | Finance & Investments | 2012 | |
| Charles Zegar | 2.8 | Bloomberg L.P | Tech | 2010 | |
| Peter G. Peterson | 2.8 | Blackstone Group | Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2018 |
| Garrett Camp | 2.7 | Uber | Tech | 2017 | |
| Brian Armstrong | 2.6 | Coinbase | Cryptocurrency | 2018 | |
| Ted Turner | 2.4 | Cable News Network | Media | 2010 | |
| Herbert and Marion Sandler | 2.4 | Golden West Financial Corporation | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Gerry Lenfest and Marguerite Lenfest | 2.4 | Lenfest Communications | Media | 2010 | 2018 |
| T. Denny Sanford | 2.2 | First PREMIER Bank | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| James E. Stowers | 2 | Twentieth Century Mutual Funds | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Tom Steyer | 1.6 | Farallon Capital | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| George P. Mitchell | 1.6 | Mitchell Energy & Development Corp | Energy | 2010 | 2013 |
| Ted Forstmann | 1.6 | Forstmann Little & Company | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Jon Huntsman Sr. | 1.5 | Huntsman Corporation | Manufacturing | 2010 | |
| Mark Pincus | 1.4 | Zynga | Tech | 2022 | |
| Sidney Kimmel | 1.4 | Jones Apparel Group | Fashion & Cosmetics | 2010 | |
| Irwin M. Jacobs | 1.2 | Qualcomm | Tech | 2010 | |
| Bernard Osher | 1.1 | Golden West Financial Corporation | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| Duncan MacMillan | 1.1 | Bloomberg L.P | Tech | 2010 | |
| Lorry I. Lokey | 1 | Business Wire | Media | 2010 | 2022 |
| Sanford I. Weill | 1 (2021) | Shearson Loeb Rhoades | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| John Morgridge | 1 | Cisco Systems | Tech | 2010 | |
| Tom Monaghan | 1 | Domino's Pizza | Food & Beverage | 2010 | |
| Lyda Hill | 1 | Hunt Oil Company, inheritance | Energy | 2010 | |
| Anne Wojcicki | 0.8 | 23andMe | Genealogy | 2022 | |
| Shelby White | 0.6 | Leon Levy, Odyssey Partners | Finance & Investments | 2010 | |
| T. Boone Pickens | 0.5 | Mesa Petroleum, BP Capital Management | Energy, Finance & Investments | 2010 | 2019 |