Another Signs the Giving Pledge

Mackenzie Bezos, following her divorce from Amazon’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, has joined a list of wealthiest people who have agreed to participate in the giving pledge.  Mackenzie Bezos, who ranks 22^nd on the Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, said she left Jeff Bezos with 75% of their Amazon stock, as well as all of their interests in the Washington Post and Blue Origin.  She still has a net worth of $36.6 billion and has pledged $17 billion to Philanthropic and charity institutions either during her lifetime or in her will. 

She may have plenty remaining to live on, but truly, would you take the pledge and give half of your fortune away?

Reading about her amazing commitment made me curious.  Who else has joined the giving pledge?  204 people from 23 countries have made that commitment.  204!   Here are others who have Bill and Melinda Gates have signed the pledge.  Warren buffet signed. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan signed the pledge.   Who else?  How did the Giving pledge start?

Forty of America’s wealthiest individuals and couples joined together in a commitment to give more than half of their wealth away.  The Giving Pledge was created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett and sprang to life following a series of conversations about how they could, as a group, raise the bar of generosity among the uber rich.  In 2010 the giving pledge was launched in United States, and went global in 2013 with new signatories from Germany, Australia, India, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine and UK.  It spread from there.  In 2019, the pledge includes individuals, couple and families from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Cyprus, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Monaco, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, Ukraine, YAE, the United Kingdom and the United States.  

So how does it work?  This is a moral commitment, not a legally binding contract.  However, Folks like Bill and Melinda Gates have taken their philanthropic responsibilities seriously, and have for years worked at giving away money to those in need.  I can only hope others on the list are as sincere in their pledge.