From The Wall Street Journal:
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have persuaded 11 more of their billionaire peers to promise to give away half of their wealth, including tech luminaries Gordon Moore (co-founder Intel) and Reed Hastings (co-founder Netflix).
The new 11 will join the Giving Pledge, a campaign Gates and Buffett launched in 2010 to try to kick-start a new era of American philanthropy.
From The Giving Pledge website:
The Giving Pledge is an effort to invite the wealthiest individuals and families in America to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to the philanthropic causes and charitable organizations.
Each person who chooses to pledge will make this statement publicly, along with a letter explaining their decision to pledge.
Read the pledge letters of the existing 81 members (pdf) and the new 11 (pdf). Among the names on the list: George Lucas, Ted Turner, Diane Von Furstenberg, Elon Musk, Steve Case, Dustin Moskovitz, Michael Milken, and Michael Bloomberg.
More from the organization:
At an annual event, those who take the pledge will come together to share ideas and learn from each other.
The first annual meeting was held in Tucson, AZ, on Cinco de Mayo – May 5, 2011, and the second was held in Santa Barbara on May 9, 2012.
A timeline of the pledges:
- August 2010 – 40 billionaires (The Giving Pledge was launched)
- December 2010 – 57 billionaires
- May 2011 – 69 billionaires
- September 2012 – 92 billionaires