Why have only 5 billionaires signed up for the Giving Pledge this year? 2022’s generous pledgers include 23andMe’s Anne Wojcicki, Zynga’s Mark Pincus and crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried
The fewest number of billionaires have joined The Giving Pledge this year since the creation of the initiative, which helps philanthropists give away most of their wealth.
But 2022 isn’t going so well …
Just five billionaires have joined the list this year, down from 14 in 2021. The highest number of pledgers – 58 – joined the list when it was founded in 2010.
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“A while ago I became convinced that our duty was to do the most we could for the long run aggregate utility of the world,” Bankman-Fried said in his pledge letter. He said what “matters the most” is the work his friends and colleagues do at foundations.
Mala Gaonkar, former managing director of Lone Pine Capital and founder of investment firm SurgoCap Partners, also signed up this year. She said in her pledge letter that giving money away has “richly rewarded” her.
“People who work quietly, often at great risk, often at great cost to them and those they love, people who resist the misplaced value society places on fame and wealth as markers of talent or even virtue,” she said. “Such people are some of the most fulfilled people I know.”
- The Giving Pledge was founded by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010, and initially scores of billionaires signed, including Elon Musk and Airbnb’s Brian Chesky
- But the number of pledgers has fallen to a record low, with some notable names still absent from the list, including Jeff Bezos, even though his ex-wife Mackenzie Scott joined