Billionaires Promised to Give Wealth Away — So Why Are They Richer Than Ever?
“‘Quiet luxury’ has been replaced by loud, proud, and flashy,” Katie Couric recently proclaimed, analyzing the June 2025 Bezos-Sanchez nuptials amid the shifting sands of billionaire etiquette. America’s wealthiest used to feel a sense of obligation to the public that toned down their largesse, or at least compelled them to give back more abundantly, she reasoned — which protected robber barons and society dames from revolution or dispossession.
In our era of absurd and extreme wealth inequality, it’s true that many of our tech titans have disregarded the valuable reasons — both selfish and selfless — to practice philanthropy. But many of them actually have committed on the record to giving back, or, at least, they’ve seemed to.
Fifteen years ago, Bill Gates, alongside his then-wife Melinda French and Warren Buffett, founded the Giving Pledge, a commitment and encouragement for their fellow billionaires to give half of their fortunes away either in their lifetimes or upon their passing. The Pledge drove home the idea that philanthropy was a pillar of any respectable 21st-century billionaire’s portfolio.
Since its founding, around 13-14 percent of the country’s billionaires have made the Giving Pledge, and many have invested billions of dollars in nonprofit initiatives to save lives and create opportunity. Bill Gates himself recently committed the vast majority of his assets to charity in the next 20 years, accelerating his personal giving timeline.
But overall, Giving Pledgers have mostly fallen short on their commitments. My team at the Institute for Policy Studies’ recent report, The Giving Pledge at 15, found that the original Giving Pledgers who are still billionaires have collectively gotten 283 percent wealthier (or 166 percent when adjusted for inflation) as the clock keeps ticking. And just 8 of the 22 deceased Pledgers — together worth $43 billion — ended up fulfilling their Pledges.
