More than a dozen of some of the world’s richest people have joined in by pledging to donate most of their wealth to charitable causes during their lives or in their wills.
The Giving Pledge, a campaign launched in 2010 by Bill Gates with his now ex-wife Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett to try to usher in a new era of philanthropy, said Tuesday that 14 more individuals and The couple had been involved in the effort in the past. The year. The non-binding pledge now includes more than 230 people from 28 countries, including Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk and Meta Platform Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.
New signatories include Tony Xu, co-founder of the food delivery company DoorDash Inc., and his wife, Patti Bao; Steven Schurman, co-founder of software company Elastic NV; Pinterest co-founders Ben Silberman and his wife Divya Silberman; and Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, co-founders of online design platform Canva Pvt Ltd.
“As it did for us, we hope to make investments that help dreamers and doers – especially those who are underfunded or playing backwards – to maximize their potential and help the world.” Necessary encouragement and luck to influence positively,” Mr. Xu and Ms. Bao said in a statement.
According to the Giving Pledge, many of the new signatories were already involved in philanthropic efforts in areas including poverty alleviation, climate change and medical research.
Individuals, foundations and corporations gave an estimated $471.4 billion to US charities in 2020, an increase of 3.8%, adjusted for inflation, compared to 2019, according to a report from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and Giving USA, which data publishes. charitable donation.
Billionaire-led philanthropic efforts such as the Giving Pledge have been criticized by tax-reform supporters, who allege they allow the wealthy to protect their money by donating to family-run charity funds and strategic tax-avoidance measures. give.
According to an August 2020 analysis by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank, “the vast majority of Giving Pledge donations will be sequestered in private foundations controlled by wealthy families, slowing the flow of funds to active working charities.” Rather than relinquishing dominion over wealth in exchange for a reduction in tax, these wealthy donors and their heirs would retain significant power and control over assets that are benevolent in name, but not in deed.
The Giving Pledge did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Gates has said before that philanthropy consists of doing things that cannot be done any other way.
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