Rich to lighten moneybags

Dozens of U. S. billionaires pledged Wednesday to give at least 50 per cent of their fortunes to charity as part of a philanthropic campaign by two of the world's richest men -- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Based on Forbes magazine's estimates of the billionaires' wealth, at least $150 billion US could be given away.

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 creator George Lucas and oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.

A total of 40 of the richest people in the U.S., including Microsoft founder Gates and investor Buffett, have now taken the pledge.

Since launching the campaign in June, Buffett, Gates and his wife Melinda have spoken to about 20 per cent of the wealthiest people in the U.S. -- 70 to 80 billionaires -- in a bid to persuade them to give away their fortunes.

"In most cases we had reason to believe that the people already had an interest in philanthropy," Buffett said. "It was a very soft sell but 40 have signed up.

"We're looking forward to enlisting many of these 40 to go out and make some calls also so we can report an even greater milestone but we're off to a terrific start," he said.

The campaign asks U.S. billionaires to give away at least half their wealth during their lifetime or after their death, and to publicly state their intention with a letter explaining their decision.

Gates has an estimated $53-billion fortune, which places him second on the Forbes magazine list of the world's richest people, and Buffett, who made his fortune with insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc., ranks third on the list with $47 billion.

The Giving Pledge asks billionaires to make a moral commitment to give their fortunes to charity.

"I've long stated that I enjoy making money, and I enjoy giving it away," energy tycoon Pickens, who is worth about $1 billion, said in his Giving Pledge letter. "I'm not a big fan of inherited wealth. It generally does more harm than good."

Buffett and Gates will hold several dinners later this year to recruit more billionaires, and members of The Giving Pledge will meet annually to discuss their philanthropy. Buffett and Gates also plan to meet with some of the wealthiest people in China and India.

"We . . . hope that this catches fire in some other countries," Buffett said. "If they want to take what we think is a good idea and run with it, we will be cheering."

Forbes said the U.S. is home to 403 billionaires, the most of any country.

Individual Americans gave more than $227 billion in 2009, according to a Giving USA report by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, down just 0.4 per cent from the previous year despite the U.S. recession.

The full list of billionaires and their letters can be seen at www.thegivingpledge.org.