Self-made billionaires are more willing to give away their fortunes than those who inherited their wealth. This was the conclusion of a University of Southampton study in 2014 of the Giving Pledge, the philanthropic initiative through which billionaires pledge to donate more than half their wealth to charitable causes.
Since Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett launched the pledge in 2010, more than 150 super-wealthy have signed up; recent additions include Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and the co-founders of Airbnb, the holiday let company. Another is the famed and feared corporate raider Carl Icahn, who opted to direct his donation to education, comparing children from underprivileged backgrounds to “undervalued assets”.
The Southampton study also analysed the motivation pledgers cited in their letters (which can be read on the Giving Pledge website): 80 per cent cited the desire for “impact”, while 40 per cent mentioned their “values”.
While signatories to the pledge in theory vow to give away more than half their fortunes, they are under no legal obligation to donate any of their money or make public disclosures about how much they have actually donated.
Miles Johnson is the FT’s global investment editor