These Billionaires Are Giving Away All Their Money

On Tuesday, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made major news when he and his wife, Priscilla, announced the birth of their daughter. But it wasn't just the touching letter to their kid that caught everyone's attention: Zuckerberg and Chan pledged to donate 99% of their Facebook stocks to improving the world for the next generation. (That's roughly $44 billion.) While the move should certainly be applauded, let's remember that Zuckerberg isn't the first billionaire to pledge to give away the majority of his wealth.

Warren Buffet teamed with Bill and Melinda Gates back in 2010 to create the Giving Pledge, which basically asks the world's wealthiest people to donate at least half of their fortunes to charities and philanthropic causes during their lifetimes or in their wills. The pledge isn't a legally binding contract; rather, it's a moral commitment. For many of these billionaires, giving away half their wealth still leaves them and their heirs extremely well-off.

So far, more than 138 people from 15 different countries have pledged to give away half their wealth. Here are some of the members of the Giving Pledge's billionaires list.

**George Lucas**
Net worth: $5 billion
In July 2010, filmmaker George Lucas announced that he would be "dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education." In 2012, when Disney paid Lucas $4 billion for the rights to *Star Wars,*he pledged to put all that money into the George Lucas Educational Foundation and Edutopia. Lucas also donated $175 million to his alma mater, USC — and has allocated $10 million toward financial support for African American and Hispanic students.
Photo: **Gregory Pace/BEI/REX Shutterstock**.

Elon Musk

Net worth: $15 billion

The founder of PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla Motors pledged in 2012. According to Fortune, Musk had already agreed to give away most of his wealth in his will. “This is not a change in what I am doing,” Elon Musk told Fortune. “It is publicising what I am doing in hopes that others will follow through.”

**Diane Von Furstenberg & Barry Diller**
DVF Net Worth: $450 million
Barry Diller Net Worth: $2.5 billion
In 2010, husband-and-wife power couple Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg committed to the Giving Pledge. The couple wrote a formal letter in June 2015 that details their plans to give generously through the Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation.
Photo: **MediaPunch/REX Shutterstock**.

**Warren Buffett**
Net Worth: $66 billion
Way back in 2006, Warren Buffet committed to give away all of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to philanthropic foundations. A few years later, he would team with Bill and Melinda Gates to create the Giving Pledge, with this promise: "More than 99% of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my lifetime or at my death." This year, he gave away $2.8 billion. When asked about leaving money to his children, Buffett said, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they would feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they would feel like doing nothing." According to *The Washington Post*, his three children should receive an estimated $2 billion.
Photo: **Greg Allen/REX Shutterstock**.

**Sheryl Sandberg**
Net Worth: $1 billion
In 2014, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg pledged to give away half of her wealth to philanthropy, with a focus on women's issues. Before joining the Giving Pledge, Sandberg had already donated more than $1 million in Facebook stock to an undisclosed charity.
Photo: **REX Shutterstock**.

Bill & Melinda Gates

Net Worth: $80 billion

Despite being the richest man in the world, according to Forbes , Bill Gates is well-known for philanthropic efforts — as is his wife, Melinda. The couple has already given away more than $28 billion and plans to put more money into the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Their philanthropic focuses are education and making vaccines available to children around the world. As for the Gates' three children, they can expect $10 million each.