SEATTLE – May 28, 2024 – The Giving Pledge celebrates its 14th Annual Gathering this week, where signatories come together to learn, connect, and collaborate on efforts to address urgent global challenges through philanthropy.
Founded in 2010 by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates, the Giving Pledge is a global community of some of the world’s wealthiest philanthropists united through a promise to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes either in their lifetimes or in their wills. Today, the Giving Pledge has grown into a global community of more than 240 signatories from 30 countries.
“One of the Giving Pledge community's greatest strengths is that members represent so many different countries, generations, and perspectives—it helps us learn from and challenge one another,” said Melinda French Gates. “I continue to be inspired by this group and grateful to be part of this community.”
“In the face of mounting global crises putting additional demands on public resources, philanthropy fills critical funding gaps and catalyzes life-saving innovations,” said Bill Gates. “I’m grateful that so many Giving Pledge signatories have stepped up to take action through their philanthropy.”
While Giving Pledge signatories pursue their giving independently, they connect throughout the year to exchange ideas, inspiration, and lessons learned through their philanthropic work. Today, a number of pledgers are engaged in collaborative philanthropy—connecting their resources and networks to drive greater impact than they could on their own.
Over the past year, Giving Pledge signatories have continued to demonstrate inspirational, innovative, and impactful examples of generosity across the globe. Below are just a few examples of this impact:
- MacKenzie Scott donated over $2 billion in the past year, including an open call with Lever for Change to give $640 million to over 360 US community-led nonprofits driving progress on key issues such as health, education, and socioeconomic mobility.
- The Heising-Simons Foundation, including Liz Simons, Mark Heising, and their daughter Caitlin Heising (Next Gen) joined together with Pierre and Pam Omidyar’s Omidyar Network as part of a new coalition of 10 philanthropies to support public interest efforts that mitigate artificial intelligence’s (AI) harms and promote responsible use and innovation. Together, these institutions are collectively contributing more than $200 million to align their investments.
- Francine A. LeFrak opened the Francine A. LeFrak Wellness Center in New Jersey, which provides health services and job training to court-involved and formerly incarcerated people, who often face reduced access to care and systemic barriers.
- Nandan Nilekani donated INR 315 Crores ($39 million) to Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, his alma mater, to support infrastructure and innovation, marking one of the largest alum donations to an Indian educational institution. Rohini Nilekani contributed INR 100 Crores ($12.5 million) to NIMHANS and NCBS to advance mental health research and treatment in India.
During this week’s convening, signatories share insights from their own giving experiences on topics including global health, civic education, reproductive health, AI for social good, and climate action.
This year, many signatories are joined by their “next generation” family members who are part of the Giving Pledge Next Gen group, a community open to the children and grandchildren of Giving Pledge signatories who wish to be actively engaged in philanthropy. Especially as the next generations become increasingly active in their families’ philanthropic work, this marks a significant milestone for the Pledge community and provides an opportunity to hold conversations around legacy, governance, and approaches for involving family in giving.
The Giving Pledge community continues to grow
Since the last annual gathering in May 2023, the Giving Pledge has welcomed the following new signatories:
- Sam Altman and Oliver Mulherin (United States)
- Marco Dunand and Suzan Craig Dunand (Switzerland and New Zealand)
- Robert D. Goldfarb (United States)
- Jahm and Cheryl Najafi (United States)
- Jessica Schantz Taneja and Hemant Taneja (United States)
Please take a moment to read more about these exciting new additions to the Giving Pledge community below.
About the Giving Pledge
The Giving Pledge is a community of philanthropists who make a public, moral commitment to give the majority of their wealth to charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.
This global, multi-generational community of more than 240 signatories connects with each other, and to the people, groups, and ideas actively addressing urgent issues around the world.
Signatories of the Giving Pledge pursue their philanthropy independently but come together to learn and exchange ideas in order to deeply engage in their giving. The Giving Pledge does not involve either pooling or granting funds, or require support for any particular causes or organizations.
The Giving Pledge signatories range in age from their 30s to over 100. Globally, signatories represent 30 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Cyprus, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, Tanzania, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the United States, signatories hail from 30 states and the District of Columbia.
For the full list of signatories and their personal letters stating their commitments, visit www.GivingPledge.org.
About the New Signatories
Sam Altman is the co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, the AI research and deployment company behind ChatGPT and Sora. Sam was president of the early-stage startup accelerator Y Combinator from 2014 to 2019. Oliver Mulherin is a technology investor focused on energy. He was previously a software engineer at Meta.
Excerpt from Giving Pledge letter:“We would not be making this pledge if it weren’t for the hard work, brilliance, generosity, and dedication to improve the world of many people that built the scaffolding of society that let us get here.”
Marco Dunand is CEO and co-founder of Mercuria, one of the world's largest privately owned energy and commodities trading firms, headquartered in Geneva, with more than 35 offices worldwide and revenues of more than $150 billion. Mercuria is a global expert in all energy sectors. It is also one of the most active investors in energy transition and disruptive technologies, with multi-billion-dollar investments. Prior to co-founding Mercuria in 2004, Marco held senior positions at Goldman Sachs, Citi Group and Sempra Energy.
Suzan Craig Dunand, an entrepreneur, has championed ecosystem restoration, nature-based solutions and sustainable business practices in New Zealand for over two decades. She founded TAHI based on a pioneering model of strategic nature restoration that combines science-based, field-tested approaches to transform degraded landscapes into thriving ecosystems. Suzan is a board member of WWF New Zealand, an advisory board member of Restor, and a founding member and board member of the Long Run.
In 2022, Suzan and Marco co-founded the Villars Institute, a Swiss non-profit foundation dedicated to advancing the transition to a net-zero and nature-positive economy through interdisciplinary research, intergenerational collaboration and systems leadership. The Villars Institute collaborates closely with experts, educators, and entrepreneurs to engage young people in addressing the world's most pressing challenges.
Excerpt from Giving Pledge letter:“We are excited to become part of this community, to work together to make a meaningful difference for the planet, and to learn from the collective wisdom and experiences of partners from around the world.”
Robert “Bob” Goldfarb was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and resides in New York City. Receiving a handful of stocks in his childhood seeded a lifelong interest and career in equity investing. Bob earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1971 and went on to work at an asset management firm, based in New York City, founded by fellow alumnus Bill Ruane. The firm’s mutual fund, Sequoia, bucked industry expectations by outperforming all others in 1975, a successful trend that continued for many years to come. Bob and Bill worked together until Bill’s unfortunate passing, when Bob stepped up to head Ruane, Cunniff, & Goldfarb as Chairman from 2005 to 2016. Since retiring from the firm, Bob enjoys classical music and manages his family’s capital. Bob credits his father and Bill Ruane, who became a trusted mentor and friend, as the biggest influences on his philanthropy, inspiring him to give away ninety percent of his wealth during his lifetime and join the Giving Pledge.
Excerpt from Giving Pledge letter:“More than ninety percent of my capital will be given philanthropically. I expect that the Pledge will enable me to become a better philanthropist.”
Jahm Najafi is an international investor and founder of The Najafi Companies, which has its headquarters in Phoenix with offices in New York and Los Angeles. He is vice chairman of the Phoenix Suns and a member of the NBA’s Board of Governors, and vice chairman of McLaren F1 Racing Team. Najafi’s current range of investments includes McLaren, STX Entertainment, Phoenix Suns, MSP Sports Capital, Book of the Month, FC Augsburg, StubHub International and more. Jahm received his undergraduate degree in economics and development studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in business economics from Harvard University.
Cheryl Najafi is an author, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of a range of impactful brands such as EverydayDishes.com, The Cause Collection, Kara Aware, and most recently The Broken Butterfly Project to prevent gun violence and advance sensible gun legislation. She currently serves as Secretary on the Barrow Neurological Foundation Board, The New American Council for Arts and Design at Arizona State University, and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts for the Kennedy Center. She has tenure on Charter 100; ASU Art Museum Creative Impact Board; the University of Chicago; and NYU’s Parents Councils; among others. Cheryl holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Communications from Arizona State University. She has been the recipient of several awards including Arizona’s Most Intriguing Woman, and ASU’s 2019 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Leader, among others.
Family-focused, Jahm and Cheryl are parents to three college-aged children and committed philanthropists with a passion for social equity and justice, children and education, and the arts.
Excerpt from Giving Pledge letter:“The definition of wealth varies depending on who you ask. My answer today is wildly divergent from when I was an ambitious Wall Streeter, a young husband and father, or immersed in building my company. Ask me now and I’ll say it’s the opportunity to live with purpose, to give back to those I love and the world we inhabit.”
Hemant Taneja is the CEO and Managing Director of the global technology investment capital firm, General Catalyst. He is author of the best-selling book Intended Consequences: How to Build Market-Leading Companies with Responsible Innovation and the co-founder of Responsible Innovation Labs, a non-profit consortium of leaders aiming to re-center technology as a force for good. Hemant holds five degrees from MIT and serves on the Stanford School of Medicine Board of Fellows, and is the co-founder of Advanced Energy Economy.
Jessica Schantz Taneja owns and operates Dhyana Grove Farm, a 90-acre regenerative agricultural farm and winery in the Santa Cruz mountains. She started and heads a development company for specialty real estate in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, and with her partner, Hemant, she also runs the Taneja Family Foundation. Jessica is a mosaic artist with a fine arts discipline in modern abstract mosaics. She recently executive produced “Daughters,” an award-winning documentary on incarcerated fathers. She is a mother of three and a founding parent of Khan Lab School, where all her children studied.
Excerpt from Giving Pledge letter:“Our aspiration is to innovate in how we do this work so that technology can be a multiplier for our giving.”
