The Giving Pledge Call for Philanthropy Continues to Grow–40 Billionaires Committed

Yesterday I made a post about Bill Gates being a keynote speaker at this year’s mHealth Convention and also linked back to the evens of the “The Giving Pledge” as well. You can revisit the post at the link below.

Bill Gates Named Keynote Speaker at 2010 mHealth Summit To Be Held November 8-10

It was back in June that Bill Gates and Warren Buffet challenged other s to contribute and pledge half of their valued worth towards philanthropy and it seems to be working as we have some new names being added such as Larry Ellison of Oracle for one example.

Bill Gates & Warren Buffett – Call for Philanthropy To Give 50% of Their Fortunes To Help Others With “The Giving Pledge”

Last year we had the secret billionaire’s club meeting and you can read more at the link below. Attendees included Oprah, Ted Turner, and others getting together to discuss what they could do to make the world a better place.

In addition the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is busy funding research projects all over the world.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Fund 76 Research Projects – Healthcare

This all began at the secret billionaire’s meeting that took place in New York back in 2009 and has evolved. The meeting took place on May 5th at Rockefeller University in New York. Both Bill Gates and Oprah have been staunch leaders in promoting education, as healthcare and all other issues stem right back down to the one basic item that needs to be addressed.

Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah, Ted Turner, David Rockefeller, Jr. and more – Billionaire’s Summit Meeting Held in New York

Both Warren and Gates have publicly announced that much of their own wealth will be donated to charity when they pass on. In other related philanthropy news the Wall Street Journal reports Salesforce.com Inc. founder Marc Benioff will donate $100 million to a new children's hospital at the University of California, San Francisco.

In the tough times we are facing today this is wonderful to see the richest men in the world giving back as how much can one spend you might ask. I wonder if we might in time see any bankers join in here, the challenge is there. BD

More than three dozen of America's wealthiest individuals and families have joined Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in agreeing to give away at least half their fortunes to charity.

The announcement was made Wednesday by The Giving Pledge, an effort officially launched by Gates and Buffett earlier this year to persuade the richest people in America to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to the philanthropic causes and charitable organizations of their choice, either during their lifetime or after their death.

40 billionaires pledge to donate half their wealth - U.S. news - Giving - msnbc.com

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