The Giving Pledge

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The Giving Pledge
Formation2010; 16 years ago (2010)
TypeCharitable organization
Members256 (as of August 2025)[1]
Founders
Bill Gates
Warren Buffett
Melinda French Gates
Websitegivingpledge.org

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Template:Bill Gates series The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates, Melinda French 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 October 2025, the pledge has more than 250 signatories from 30 countries.[2] Most of the signatories of the pledge are billionaires, at a total of US$600 billion.[3]

The campaign is intended to establish a social norm of charitable giving by the wealthy.[4] In its early years, it was highly successful at attracting signatories, whereas the rate of new signatories has declined in recent years.[4]

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.[5] On the Giving Pledge's website, each individual or couple writes a letter explaining why they chose to give.[6] The pledge is open to non-billionaires who "plan to give away at least $500 million and are in a position to do so".[7]

History

In June 2010, the Giving Pledge campaign was formally announced and Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett began recruiting members.[8] As of August 2010, the aggregate wealth of the first 40 pledgers was $125 billion.[9] 113 people signed the pledge in the first 5 years, 72 in the next 5 years, and 43 in the next 5 years. As of 2026, more than 250 families have signed the pledge.[7]

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was removed from the list in December 2022 following his arrest.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12]

Many pledge participants channel their philanthropy through private family foundations or donor-advised funds (DAFs) that they control, enabling immediate tax benefits while allowing disbursements over time. According to a 2025 report by the Institute for Policy Studies, roughly 80 percent of pledger contributions have gone to such intermediary organisations rather than directly to operating charities. Supporters argue this builds enduring endowments and professionalizes grantmaking, while critics contend it delays impact and preserves donor control, blurring the line between philanthropy and the maintenance of influence.[1][13]

The initiative has also attracted criticism from journalists, watchdog groups, and members of the philanthropic sector for its voluntary and non-binding nature, which provides no mechanism to verify or enforce the fulfilment of commitments. Commentators note that some signatories may gain public recognition without necessarily donating the pledged share, and that many participants have seen their net worth increase since joining. According to a 2025 analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies, the 32 original U.S. pledgers who remain billionaires have collectively become about 166 percent wealthier since signing on in 2010. According to the study, just 8 of 22 pledgers who had since died actually gave away enough to meet the "half of wealth" pledge by the time of their death.[1][13]

Right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel has been a staunch opponent of the Giving Pledge and has tried to persuade other billionaires not to sign it, or to undo their signatures.[4] He has argued that the money would be better served going towards for-profit businesses instead.[4] Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency firm Coinbase, signed the Giving Pledge in 2019, but rescinded his signature by 2024.[4] A 2026 New York Times story reported that "the rate of signers has plummeted in recent years," citing a backlash against high-profile charitable giving among both the donors and the public, as well as revelations of Gates's ties to Jeffrey Epstein.[4]

Buffett became distant from the Gates Foundation following the Gates' divorce, and transferred $500 million to each of his three children's charitable foundations instead of donating it directly.[14] Tyler Cowen noted, "The fact that many wealthy individuals are now backing away from the pledge is a sign it was not an effective upfront commitment in the first place."[15]

List of notable pledgers

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Net worth is as of 2024 for notable signers. A full list of pledgers is available online.[16]

Name Net worth in billion US$ Source of wealth Industry Year of pledge Year of death Amount donated
Elon Musk 852[17] Tesla, SpaceX Electric vehicles, Rocketry 2012 $7.6 billion (2021–22)
Larry Ellison 231.8[18] Oracle Tech 2010 $0.8 billion (est.)
Mark Zuckerberg 201.7[19] Meta Platforms Tech 2010 $45 billion (est.)
Warren Buffett 146.8[20] Berkshire Hathaway Finance & Investments 2010 $60 billion+
Michael Bloomberg 109.4[21] Bloomberg L.P. Finance, Media 2010 $17 billion+
Bill Gates 105.1[22] Microsoft Software, Tech 2010 $50 billion+
MacKenzie Scott 33.2[23] Amazon Tech 2019 $19 billion
Jim Simons 31.4[24] Renaissance Technologies Finance & Investments 2010 2024 $4 billion+
Vladimir Potanin 23.7[25] interros Investment 2013
Dustin Moskovitz 24.04 Facebook Tech 2010 $2.6 billion
Carl Icahn 22 Icahn Enterprises Finance & Investments 2010
Pierre Omidyar 21.8 eBay Tech 2010
Andrew Forrest 20.8 (2023)[26] Fortescue Mining 2013[27]
John Doerr 12.7[28] Kleiner Perkins Finance & Investments 2010
Azim Premji 12.3 Wipro Tech 2013 $21 billion (est.)
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
Brian Chesky 9.2 Airbnb Tech 2022
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[29] DFS Group Luxury retail 2011 2023 $8 billion+
George Kaiser 7.6 Kaiser-Francis Oil Company Energy 2010
Judith Faulkner 7.5[30] Epic Systems Tech 2015[31]
Yuri Milner 6.8[32] DST Global Technology investing 2013
Henry Samueli 6.7 Broadcom Corporation Tech 2011
Jeffrey Skoll 6.1 eBay Tech 2010
Reed Hastings 5.4 Netflix Tech, Media 2012
Mitchell and Emily Wei Rales 5.4 Danaher Corporation Business 2019
Bernard Marcus 4.5[33] to 6.1[34] (2019) The Home Depot Retail 2010 2024 $2.2 billion (est.)
Barron Hilton 4.5 Hilton Worldwide Services 2010 2019 $3.6 billion (est.)
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 $0.5-0.7 billion
Julian Robertson 4.1 Tiger Management Finance & Investments 2010 2022 $2 billion+
Anil Agrawal 4 Vedanta Resources Mining 2021
Hemant Taneja 3.6[35] General Catalyst Venture Capital 2024
Thomas Secunda 3.6[36] 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[37] Bloomberg L.P Tech 2010
Peter G. Peterson 2.8 Blackstone Group Finance & Investments 2010 2018
Garrett Camp[38] 2.7 Uber Tech 2017
Brian Armstrong 2.6 Coinbase Cryptocurrency 2018
Ted Turner 2.4[39] Cable News Network Media 2010 2026
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
Sam Altman 2[40] OpenAI, ChatGPT Tech 2024[41]
James E. Stowers 2[42] 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 2011
Jon Huntsman Sr. 1.5 Huntsman Corporation Manufacturing 2010 2018 $1.5 billion+
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[43] 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[44] (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 $0.02 billion+ (2022)
Shelby White 0.6[citation needed] Leon Levy, Odyssey Partners Finance & Investments 2010
T. Boone Pickens 0.5 Mesa Petroleum, BP Capital Management Energy, Finance & Investments 2010 2019 $1 billion+

See also

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References

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