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Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Others Join Giving Pledge

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is the one of the latest billionaires to sign on to the Giving Pledge campaign started by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. The Giving Pledge calls for billionaires to pledge at least half their net worth to charity, in their lifetimes or at death.

The list of those signed on to the Giving Pledge now has 57 families. The recent batch of billionaires include AOL co-founder Steve Case, investor Carl Icahn and Michael Milken who join Larry Ellison, George Lucas and Michael Bloomberg in the ultimate big givers roll call.

"People wait until late in their career to give back. But why wait when there is so much to be done?" said Mark Zuckerberg in a press release. "With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts."

A full list of those taking the pledge and personal letters by many of these pledgers outlining their commitment to give is available online at www.givingpledge.org. Carl Icahn said that "until Bill, Melinda and Warren started this project, I never considered going public with my intentions. However, I certainly see the value of a project that encourages wealthy individuals to step forward and commit to use their wealth for the common good. I hope that by adding my voice with those who are supporting this project, we will all encourage others to participate."

Tags: bill and melinda gat..., bill and melinda gates foundation, bill gates, dustin moskovitz, facebook, giving pledge, mark zuckerberg, melinda gates, philanthropy, warren buffett

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Buffett And Gates Encourage Billionaires To Donate At Least Half of Their Fortunes

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Big Givers

Last year I wrote about the secret meeting of some of the world's biggest philanthropists. Now Fortune has revealed sone of what happened during that meeting. Fortune's Carol Loomis reports that Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett are making a plea to the nation's richest citizens. They are asking the nation's billionaires to pledge at least half their net worth to charity, in their lifetimes or at death. Gates tells Fortune that he thinks 50 percent should be the "low bar" and that people should actally give more. Buffet also reaffirmed his own philanthropy pedge saying that he and his family decided to "keep all we can conceivably need and distribute the rest to society, for its needs" giving away more than 99 percent of his wealth.

And they aren't alone. Fortune says that other billionaires who have already committed to at least a 50 percent pledge include Eli and Edy Broad, John and Ann Doerr, H.F. "Gerry" and Marguerite Lenfest and John and Tashia Morgridge. The Fortune article goes on to say that after the first billionaires' dinner there were several more dinners set up by the Gateses. Part of the goal was just to talk about giving and why some people don't give as much as they could. In the article Melinda Gates explains that the first part of the pledge campaign is just to help move people forward in the direction of thinking about giving and what good their money can do in the world and to plan ahead. The initiative is a long-term one and given, the potential money at stake, one which has the power to reimagine the social landscape.

Tags: bill gates, melinda gates, philanthropy, warren buffett