Emirates, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Pakistan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Germany, Ukraine, South Africa, and Australia.
There have been critics of the movement. Wealthy Germans went public with disapproval of the foundation financing projects they identify as duties of the state. They find it objectionable for wealthy people to use donations as tax breaks and feel the money is better in the hands of government to dispense where it is needed. Additionally, some pledges endowed through wills have been subject to court challenges and IRS probes. Most would agree the biggest frustration to date has been a lack of involvement from the wealthiest. The US and UAE are the only nations on the richest countries in the world list with members. Qatar, Luxembourg, Sin- gapore, Brunei, Kuwait, Norway, Switzerland, and Saudi Arabia have no citizens involved. Also countries like China with 213 billionaires or Germany with 103 have been less benevolent than poorer nations such as Pakistan. Canada lists 89 billionaires, one of the first to sign The Giving Pledge was Jeff Skoll, as the first full-time employee and first President of eBay, Jeff developed the company’s inaugural business plan and led its successful initial public offering. eBay has since become the world’s largest on-line mar- ketplace, giving hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers the opportunity to connect and become successful online entrepreneurs. Others to sign their names to the pledge are; Charles Bronfman and Edgar Bronfman, both Bronfmans held various positions in Seagrams. Margaret and Sylvan Adams, since 1992 Sylvan Adams has served as president and CEO of Iberville Developments, one of Canada’s largest real estate development companies. The firm was founded by his father, Marcel Adams, a Romanian-born Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Canada in 1951. Some notable Canadians missing from the list are, media giant, David Thompson, who is the richest Canadian with $26.4 billion followed by grocery giant Galen Weston, the owner of Loblaws, at $9.3 billion and Garrett Camp, cofound- er and chairman of Uber Technologies Inc. at $6.2 billion. The spirit of The Giving Pledge is best proclaimed in a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt. In his 1937 inaugural address he said “the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Just as investors have long paid close attention to how Buffett invests his money, donors today ought to mimic how he gives it away as well. If you would like more information on The Giving Pledge or to learn more about those who have signed the pledge, go to http://givingpledge.org.
By Jamie Barrie I f you had $1 million could you give half of it away? Today there are 1810 billionaires globally representing $6.48 trillion on assumed wealth. It is sometimes hard to understand that number given that most entrepreneurs will never bemillionaires let alone billionaires, but if youwere, how much of that wealth would you be comfortable giving away. Well for 143 of the world’s wealthiest people they are comfortable giving away over half of it over their lifetime through a program named The Giving Pledge. Bill and Melinda Gates along with Warren Buffett estab- lished the organization after they questioned wealthy people about their philanthropic ideas. The pledge is a moral commitment which is not legally binding. Members have total control over the management of their donation. The pledge only requires that you have a net worth over $1 billion and you commit to dedicating over half your wealth throughout your lifetime or by means of your will. The response has been staggering. Bill and Melinda Gates have managed a successful foundation for years before they instituted The Giving Pledge. The Gates’ professed to ``give it all away`` during their lifetime, leaving only a fraction of their over $77 billion fortune to their three children. The pledges are being made by both the young and old with an age range from 29 to 100 as members. Some famous names making the pledge include Michael Bloom- berg, Paul Allen, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, George Lucas and Ted Turner. The nearly $710 billion held by the 143 contributors rep- resents a new and powerful direction in philanthropy anticipated to grow with coming generations. Much of the effort has concentrated on the Unites States although recently membership has gone global. Of the143members theUnitedStateshas118. TheUK is second with 9. Canada has 4, India and Russia both have 2 members. Countries with just one member consist of the United Arab Warren Buffett has pledged to give away over 95% of his over $66 billion in riches via the Gates’ Foundation.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS • DECEMBER 2016
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