Fifteen years ago, Warren Buffett teamed up with Bill and Melinda Gates to launch the Giving Pledge, an independent group that encourages the super wealthy to publicly commit to donating the bulk of their fortunes to charity. Over the years, the group that started out with just 40 U.S. members has grown to one that now includes pledges from billionaires across 30 countries.
“We’d known Bill [Gates] for a while and had been talking about it, but we were hesitating,” recalls Rohini Nilekani, a former journalist and the wife of Indian tech billionaire Nandan Nilekani. “To join is to say, ‘Look how big and wealthy I am, and I’m going to do this great thing.’”
But the Nilekanis eventually made the pledge, joining a group that today counts 245 philanthropists in its ranks. Members donate to a broad range of causes—everything from childhood immunizations and malaria treatments to Jewish causes and early childhood education.
In Kerry Dolan’s recent story for Forbes, she checks in with five pledgers about their charitable giving, and writes about how the appeal of joining the Giving Pledge appears to be waning, with fewer members committing in recent years. Read the full story here, and keep scrolling for more great journalism from Forbes. |
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