In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ – Acts 20:35
As for the rich in the present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. – 1 Timothy 6:17, 18
But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind - Luke 14:13

Warren Buffet - The Oracle of Omaha
Warren Edward Buffet is one of my most admired persons. Born on 30th August 1930, he is one of the most successful investors in the world. The legendary investor, often called the “Oracle of Omaha” or the “Sage of Omaha”, is one of the richest persons in the world. He is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Despite his immense wealth, he is known for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality.

Warren Buffet's modest house
On June 26, 2006, Buffet announced that he would give away eighty-five percent of his Berkshire Hathaway stock – worth $37 billion at that time – to a group of foundations over a number of years. No gift of this size had ever been made in the history of philanthropy. Five out of every six shares would go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, already the largest charity in the world, in a historic marriage of two fortunes for the betterment of the world.

Buffet With Bill & Melinda Gates
Buffet would establish no Buffet hospital, no college or university endowment or building with his name on it. By donating the money without naming something after himself, without controlling personally how it would be spent – to put money in the coffers of another foundation that he had selected for its competence and efficiency, rather than creating a whole new empire – upended every convention of giving. Such a thing had never been done by any major donor before. “It was a historic moment in the field of philanthropy globally,” said Doug Bauer of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. “It ‘s set a bar, a touchstone, for others.”
The Gates Foundation adhered to a basic creed that Buffet shared: Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, it worked to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world in the areas of global health and education.
More than 99% of his wealth will go to philanthropy during his lifetime or at death. He and his family will give up nothing they need or want by just retaining 1% of his wealth. But fulfilling this 99% pledge will have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others.
The effects of Buffet’s pledge were sizable. Jackie Chan announced that he would give away half his wealth. Li Ka-Shing, Asia’s richest man, pledged a third of his wealth to his own charitable foundation. Carlos Slim, the Mexican communications monopolist, ridiculed Buffet and Gates for their philanthropy but did a turnabout a few months later and announced that he, too, would be giving money away.
Buffet said 70 to 80 people on the Forbes magazine list of the world’s richest were contacted as part of his drive to boost giving. Forty individuals or families signed on, leaving about half that need convincing. Buffet said he’ll keep pressing the billionaires who rebuffed his request that they pledge at least half of their fortunes to charity.
“We don’t give up on them,” Buffet said. “Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future, so we’ll keep working.”
In a landmark moment for philanthropy, Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are advocating that all billionaires commit to giving at least half of their wealth to charitable groups within their lifetimes or after their deaths.
Dubbed The Giving Pledge, the initiative is the result of a series of dinners the two men held over the past year to discuss the effects of the recession on philanthropy with some of the nation’s richest people, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Revlon owner Ronald Perelman and David Rockefeller, his family’s patriarch.

Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor

Ronald Perelman - Revlon Owner

David Rockefeller is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family
The Giving Pledge does not accept money or tell people how to donate their money, but asks billionaires to make a moral commitment to give their fortunes to charity and to publicly state their intention with a letter explaining their decision. The Giving Pledge aims to reverse the recession’s trend of declining donations. In all, (if successful) the initiative would transfer $600 billion — a figure calculated by dividing the amount of wealth represented in Forbes magazine’s billionaires list in half — to charitable causes.

The Giving Pledge

Bill & Melinda Gates & Warren Buffet - The Giving Pledge
The initiative could place pressure on prominent families like the Duncans of Houston to dispense more of the family’s trust. Duncan gifted more than $250 million to Baylor College of Medicine, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital and other Houston institutions during his life.
Gates and Buffets’ goal is to instill the expectation that the rich should give away their wealth while creating a peer group of wealthy people that can offer advice on philanthropy, said Melinda Gates, Bill’s wife and the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mr. Rockefeller has pledged to give at his death more than $1 billion to charitable causes, including gifts of more than $100 million to the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller University, Harvard University and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
For his part, Bloomberg said he gave $254 million to nearly 1,400 nonprofit organizations in 2009, adding, “I am a big believer in giving it all away and have always said that the best financial planning ends with bouncing the check to the undertaker.”
Among the rich joining The Giving Pledge campaign are New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media moguls Barry Diller and Ted Turner, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, “Star Wars” movie maker George Lucas, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, Revlon owner Ronald Perelman, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, former CEO & Chairman 0f Citigroup Inc. Sanford Weill, real estate and construction billionaire Eli Broad, venture capitalist , media entrepreneur Gerry Lenfest and former Cisco Systems Chairman John Morgridge. The full list of billionaires and their letters can be seen at www.thegivingpledge.org.
“We took about 70 to 80 names, a fair number were people I didn’t know at all,” Buffet said. “We had reason to believe in most cases that the people already had an interest in philanthropy.”

Larry Ellison - CEO of Oracle

Sanford Weill - Former CEO & Chairman 0f Citigroup, Inc.

Media mogul Barry Diller

Media mogul Ted Turner

Star Wars movie maker George Lucas

Energy tycoon T.Boone Pickens

Real estate & construction billionaire Eli Broad

Venture capitalist John Doerr

Media entrepreneur Gerry Lenfest

Former Cisco Systems Chairman John Morgridge
Buffet said he will hold more dinners in the U.S. to encourage additional promises. Buffet and Gates are due to meet with some of the wealthiest people in China in September and India in March.
The world has become a much better place because of Buffet, Bill Gates and the billionaires who have made their commitments to The Giving Pledge. The Giving Pledge is really an awesome idea and based on Forbes magazine’s estimates of the billionaires’ wealth, at least $150 billion could be given away. I salute these billionaires!