Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge is a pledge for billionaires to contribute at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity during their lifetimes or in their wills. The campaign was pioneered by Bill Gates, his then-wife Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett. As of 2025, the campaign had amassed over 250 signers with a pooled net worth exceeding an estimated $1 trillion. 1 2
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Founding and History
The Giving Pledge was originally conceived by Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft; his then-wife, Melinda French Gates; and Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, as a campaign to persuade billionaires to pledge at least half of their wealth to charity, either during their lifetime or in their wills. The campaign was launched in 2010 and amassed roughly 40 signers. By July 2024, there were 244 signatories, some being individuals and others being couples committing together. As of July 2025, the estimated combined net worth of the signatories exceeded $1 trillion. 1 3 2
In the 15 years from the pledge campaign’s launch through 2025, the project had lost some of its luster due to rising sentiments against billionaires in general, as well as critical sentiments about philanthropic giving being directed by wealthy people. It has similarly been criticized for a lack of addressing criticisms regarding the nature of wealth inequality and what one critic called the wealth of rich people reaching “escape velocity.” 4
In March 2026, an article by Inside Philanthropy claimed that the Pledge “has been losing steam as fewer billionaires publicly commit to giving away the bulk of their wealth,” while a New York Times article further alleged that it’s considered “stylish, in a Silicon Valley contrarian sort of way, to bash the Giving Pledge.” 5
Views
The Giving Pledge does not maintain a specific outlook on giving or what motivates its signatories other than a shared desire to give away wealth to positively affect the world. Pledge signers will sometimes release statements as to why they are signing and what their goals are; however, signers do not share an institutional goal or priority. 1
Notable Signers
Many wealthy and prominent people around the world are signers of the Giving Pledge. In addition to the founders, other notable signers include Elon Musk, the founder of Space X and Tesla; Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI; Mackenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn; Bill Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square Capital Management; Larry Ellison, the cofounder of Oracle; Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg; the late oil baron T. Boone Pickens; Ted Turner, the founder of CNN; and Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. 6
Leadership
The Giving Pledge was founded by Bill Gates, his then-wife Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett in 2010. On the campaign’s website, Melinda French Gates is quoted as saying that she is motivated to give because she considers the amount of wealth she has to be an “absurdity” and that giving it away is the only responsible course of action. 1