Thirty US billionaires pledge to give away half their fortunes to charity | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Thirty US billionaires pledge to give away half their fortunes to charity | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Thirty US billionaires pledge to give away half their fortunes to charity

Bill Gates's and Warren Buffett's campaign draws in top names including George Lucas and Michael Bloomberg

• Andrew Clark in New York
• guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 15.53 BST
• Article history

Bill and Melinda Gates with Warren Buffett (right), who has decided to give away most of his fortune. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The world of philanthropy got a huge financial boost today as more than 30 American billionaires pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes to charitable causes, signing up to a campaign launched byWarren Buffett and Bill Gates.

In an unprecedented mass commitment, top figures including New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg, the hotel heir Barron Hilton, CNN media mogu