Mansions, yachts, personal jets - even private islands - can lose their charms over time.
Some billionaires seek cachet a different way: eradicating disease, bolstering public education, endowing museums and universities, preserving the environment, combatting poverty.
This week, that philosophy inspired another 11 super-wealthy American families, including three from the Bay Area, to commit to the Giving Pledge, a promise to give away at least half their fortunes to philanthropy or charity.
Started by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates two years ago, the pledge now has collected John Hancocks from 92 American families, including such bold-faced names as Mark Zuckerberg, George Lucas, Ted Turner, Paul Allen, Michael Bloomberg and Larry Ellison.
In the Bay Area, the newest class of pledge-signers included three families who made fortunes co-founding technology companies: Intel's Gordon Moore and his wife, Betty; Netflix's Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin; and Symphony Technology's Romesh Wadhwani and his wife, Kathleen.
"In 2001 we devoted half of our wealth to create a foundation that would take risks in order to innovate and achieve meaningful results," the Moores wrote in a statement. "Nearly 12 years later we remain committed to creating positive outcomes for future generations, and we're focused on areas where we believe that we can make a difference: environmental conservation, patient care and science. We are pleased to be a part of the Giving Pledge not only because we are able to commit these funds, but because we believe they can lead to real learning and measurable change."
Gordon Moore made the Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of $4.9 billion.
Hastings and Quillin have focused their philanthropy on school reform. He served as president of the California Board of Education and advocates for charter schools.
"It's an honor to be able to try to help our community, our country and our planet through our philanthropy," they said in a statement. "We are thrilled to join with other fortunate people to pledge a majority of our assets to be invested in others. We hope through this community that we can learn as we go, and do our best to make a positive difference for many."
Wadhwani, who co-founded the Palo Alto private-equity firm Symphony Technology Group in 2002, has a charitable mission "to accelerate economic development in India and other emerging economies by creating jobs and developing skills," he said in a statement. Forbes lists his net worth as $2 billion.
Beyond generating more money for charities, the pledge aims to provoke national discussions about giving.
Pledge signers meet yearly to thrash out their philanthropic approaches and experiences. Those discussions have spurred much more collaboration among the group, Gates told the Wall Street Journal.
"Everybody is evolving in their giving," he said.
The other new pledge signatories and their companies and causes are Manoj Bhargava (5-hour Energy, Indian poverty); Charles Bronfman (Seagram Co., Birthright Israel); Dan and Jennifer Gilbert (Quicken, children's health); Peter Lewis (Progressive Insurance, marijuana legalization); Jonathan Nelson (Providence Equity, Brown University); Jorge and Darlene Perez (The Related Group, Miami Art Museum); Claire and Leonard Tow (New Century Holdings, health care); Albert Lee Ueltschi (FlightSafety International, Third-World blindness).
They join an exclusive group ranging in age from 28 to 97.
The Bay Area is amply represented among the group, with at least 16 families (including the three new signers) with strong local ties, including Zuckerberg, Ellison and Lucas, as well as Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskowitz.
Other local signers include venture capitalists John and Ann Doerr and Vinod and Neeru Khosla; asset manager Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor; World Savings founder Bernard Osher and his wife, Barbro; Banker Herb Sandler and his late wife, Marion; and Business Wire founder Lorry Lokey.
While they no longer live here, eBay's Jeff Skoll and Pierre and Pam Omidyar all took the pledge, as did Elon Musk of Tesla and PayPal.
"This new group brings extensive business and philanthropic experience that will enrich the conversation about how to make philanthropy as impactful as possible," Gates said in a statement. "Their thoughtfulness and deep commitment to philanthropy are an inspiration to me, and I'm sure to many others as well."
Some billionaires seek cachet a different way: eradicating disease, bolstering public education, endowing museums and universities, preserving the environment, combatting poverty.
This week, that philosophy inspired another 11 super-wealthy American families, including three from the Bay Area, to commit to the Giving Pledge, a promise to give away at least half their fortunes to philanthropy or charity.
Started by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates two years ago, the pledge now has collected John Hancocks from 92 American families, including such bold-faced names as Mark Zuckerberg, George Lucas, Ted Turner, Paul Allen, Michael Bloomberg and Larry Ellison.
In the Bay Area, the newest class of pledge-signers included three families who made fortunes co-founding technology companies: Intel's Gordon Moore and his wife, Betty; Netflix's Reed Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin; and Symphony Technology's Romesh Wadhwani and his wife, Kathleen.
"In 2001 we devoted half of our wealth to create a foundation that would take risks in order to innovate and achieve meaningful results," the Moores wrote in a statement. "Nearly 12 years later we remain committed to creating positive outcomes for future generations, and we're focused on areas where we believe that we can make a difference: environmental conservation, patient care and science. We are pleased to be a part of the Giving Pledge not only because we are able to commit these funds, but because we believe they can lead to real learning and measurable change."
Gordon Moore made the Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of $4.9 billion.
Hastings and Quillin have focused their philanthropy on school reform. He served as president of the California Board of Education and advocates for charter schools.
"It's an honor to be able to try to help our community, our country and our planet through our philanthropy," they said in a statement. "We are thrilled to join with other fortunate people to pledge a majority of our assets to be invested in others. We hope through this community that we can learn as we go, and do our best to make a positive difference for many."
Wadhwani, who co-founded the Palo Alto private-equity firm Symphony Technology Group in 2002, has a charitable mission "to accelerate economic development in India and other emerging economies by creating jobs and developing skills," he said in a statement. Forbes lists his net worth as $2 billion.
Beyond generating more money for charities, the pledge aims to provoke national discussions about giving.
Pledge signers meet yearly to thrash out their philanthropic approaches and experiences. Those discussions have spurred much more collaboration among the group, Gates told the Wall Street Journal.
"Everybody is evolving in their giving," he said.
The other new pledge signatories and their companies and causes are Manoj Bhargava (5-hour Energy, Indian poverty); Charles Bronfman (Seagram Co., Birthright Israel); Dan and Jennifer Gilbert (Quicken, children's health); Peter Lewis (Progressive Insurance, marijuana legalization); Jonathan Nelson (Providence Equity, Brown University); Jorge and Darlene Perez (The Related Group, Miami Art Museum); Claire and Leonard Tow (New Century Holdings, health care); Albert Lee Ueltschi (FlightSafety International, Third-World blindness).
They join an exclusive group ranging in age from 28 to 97.
The Bay Area is amply represented among the group, with at least 16 families (including the three new signers) with strong local ties, including Zuckerberg, Ellison and Lucas, as well as Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskowitz.
Other local signers include venture capitalists John and Ann Doerr and Vinod and Neeru Khosla; asset manager Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor; World Savings founder Bernard Osher and his wife, Barbro; Banker Herb Sandler and his late wife, Marion; and Business Wire founder Lorry Lokey.
While they no longer live here, eBay's Jeff Skoll and Pierre and Pam Omidyar all took the pledge, as did Elon Musk of Tesla and PayPal.
"This new group brings extensive business and philanthropic experience that will enrich the conversation about how to make philanthropy as impactful as possible," Gates said in a statement. "Their thoughtfulness and deep commitment to philanthropy are an inspiration to me, and I'm sure to many others as well."
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