Who hasn’t dreamed of being born into a wealthy family? Or fantasized about what it might be like to have an unknown great-uncle or aunt who passes away and leaves behind a fortune?
But being born into massive wealth doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll inherit the mother lode. Some uber-wealthy folks have already made it known they won’t be leaving their huge cash stashes to their kids.
The Giving Pledge is a commitment made by some of the world’s wealthiest people to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back to charitable causes. Here are some big earners who’ve either signed the Giving Pledge or stated publicly that they don’t plan to leave all their riches to offspring.
Bill Gates
Estimated net worth: $114 billion
Bill Gates famously made his fortune with Microsoft. He created the Giving Pledge in 2010 with his then-wife, Melinda, and the couple’s billionaire investor friend, Warren Buffett.
“I decided that the vast majority of my wealth would go toward helping as many people as possible,” he wrote in his Giving Pledge letter.
Fast forward to 2025 and Gates is even more eager to give away his wealth. He has announced a new deadline for donating it and closing the nonprofit he co-founded, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation:
“People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them. There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people. That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned. I will give away virtually all my wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world.”
The foundation is now scheduled to close permanently on Dec. 31, 2045.
Warren Buffett
Estimated net worth: $162 billion
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is one of the co-founders of the Giving Pledge — along with Bill and Melinda Gates — so it’s no surprise that the Oracle of Omaha will be giving away most of his riches. In his Giving Pledge letter, he wrote:
“Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks (Berkshire Hathaway stock certificates) on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99% can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others.”
Buffett has not waivered from his 2010 commitment. In 2024 alone, he donated about $55 billion — in the form of Berkshire Hathaway stock shares — to five charitable organizations, including the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which Buffett founded with his late wife.
Michael Bloomberg
Estimated net worth: $105 billion
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who also founded the media company Bloomberg LP and the nonprofit Bloomberg Philanthropies — wrote in his Giving Pledge letter:
“… the reality of great wealth is that you can’t spend it and you can’t take it with you. For decades, I’ve been committed to giving away the vast majority of my wealth to causes that I’m passionate about—and that my children are passionate about. And so I am enthusiastically taking the Giving Pledge, and nearly all of my net worth will be given away in the years ahead or left to my foundation.”
Bloomberg has not waivered from his commitment since taking the pledge. As of 2024, he had donated $21.1 billion to his nonprofit.
Wondering why billionaires tend to donate money to their own foundations before distributing it to other charities? It saves them on income taxes, as we explain in “8 Tax Tricks and Tactics Used by the Rich.”
Elon Musk
Estimated net worth: $390 billion
Elon Musk — whose business ventures include Tesla and SpaceX — is a Giving Pledge signer as well as founder of the Musk Foundation. According to the nonprofit’s website, it provides grants for:
- “Renewable energy research and advocacy
- Human space exploration research and advocacy
- Pediatric research
- Science and engineering education
- Development of safe artificial intelligence to benefit humanity”
To learn more about how Musk amassed his wealth, check out “7 Life Lessons to Learn From Elon Musk’s Trillion-Dollar Milestone.”
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan
Estimated net worth: $211 billion (Zuckerberg), $30 billion (Priscilla Chan)
Hit “Like” if you approve of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s attitude toward his billions. Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, have three children to whom they could leave all their wealth, but the couple chose to sign the Giving Pledge in 2015.
“We’ve had so much opportunity in our lives, and we feel a deep responsibility to make the world a better place for future generations,” they wrote at the time. “We believe that in the next generation, all of our children should grow up living even better lives and striving for even more than we think is possible today.”
George Lucas
Estimated net worth: $5 billion
“Star Wars” creator George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, have a lot of galactic credits piled up, thanks primarily to Lucas’ filmmaking galaxy. But Lucas’ passion is to use his riches to improve opportunities for learning.
In 2010, when he became one of the first people to sign the Giving Pledge, he wrote:
“My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages. I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race.”
Ted Turner
Estimated net worth: $3 billion
CNN founder Ted Turner says he was inspired to give by his father, who in the late 1950s quietly supported the tuition of two African American students at his alma mater, Milsaps College.
In 1990, he started the Turner Foundation, which is devoted to various environmental causes, from improving air and water quality to protecting wildlife habitat protection. In 1997, he pledged $1 billion to the United Nations Foundation. In 2010, he signed the Giving Pledge, writing:
“I don’t measure success in numbers, but I consider my contributions of more than 1.3 billion dollars to various causes over the years to be one of my proudest accomplishments and the best investment I’ve ever made. Those dollars have improved lives, saved species, fought disease, educated children, inspired change, challenged ideas and opened minds; and at the time of my death, virtually all of my wealth will have gone to charity.”
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Estimated net worth: $1 billion
To no one’s surprise, the philantrophy portfolio of composer and musical theater impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber is focused on the arts.
“I don’t think it should be about having a whole load of rich children and grandchildren,” the father of five told The Mirror in 2008. “I think it should be used in a way to encourage the arts.”
Richard Branson
Estimated net worth: $3 billion
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, a multinational venture capital conglomerate, uses much of his Giving Pledge note to give thanks for his close family. He also shared an inspiring perspective on what’s important in life, writing:
“‘Stuff’ really is not what brings happiness. Family, friends, good health and the satisfaction that comes from making a positive difference are what really matters.”
Larry Ellison
Estimated net worth: $188 billion
Oracle Corp. cofounder Larry Ellison likes to keep his giving private but agreed to go public with the Giving Pledge because of one man. Ellison wrote:
“Many years ago, I put virtually all of my assets into a trust with the intent of giving away at least 95% of my wealth to charitable causes. I have already given hundreds of millions of dollars to medical research and education, and I will give billions more over time. … Warren Buffett personally asked me to write this letter because he said I would be ‘setting an example’ and ‘influencing others’ to give. I hope he’s right.”
Sheryl Sandberg
Estimated net worth: $3 billion
The former chief operating officer of Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent organization, is a Giving Pledge signer and also a founder of the Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation.
The foundation splits its interest among four main initiatives:
- Lean In, which is devoted to helping women
- Lean In Girl, which is devoted to helping girls
- OptionB, which helps people build resilience and find meaning in the face of adversity
- The Dave Goldberg Scholars Program
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