Buffett, Gates ask rich Americans to donate half their wealth

Buffett , Bill Gates the top ranked billionaires of the world has   joined hands and have appealed to fellow Americans  to give half of their wealth to charity.

My first reaction  LOL!!!

According to Forbes Magazine,  Bill gates has USD 53 billion and Buffett total money comes around  USD 47 billion. Gentleman, why dont you start by giving half your share. I am very sure that using the money given by you  two alone can solve  75% of America financial crisis.

It seems that Bill Gates, his wife Melinda gates and Buffett  have  joined hands to commit their share to philanthropy.

“Now, Bill and Melinda Gates and I are asking hundreds of rich Americans to pledge at least 50 per cent of their wealth to charity,” Buffett has written in a letter titled ‘My Philanthropic Pledge’.

Well known for his wise investment decisions, the 79-year-old Buffett is the chairman of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway that has invested in diverse companies.

“More than 99 per cent of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my lifetime or at death. Measured by dollars, this commitment is large. In a comparative sense, though, many individuals give more to others every day,” the billionaire investor said.

In 2006, Buffett had pledged to give all the stocks he owns in Berkshire Hathaway to philanthropic foundations.

Buffett said he has already distributed about 20 per cent of his Berkshire shares and would continue to “annually distribute about 4 per cent the shares I retain”.

“At the latest, the proceeds from all of my Berkshire shares will be expended for philanthropic purposes by 10 years after my estate is settled.

“Nothing will go to endowments; I want the money spent on current needs,” the letter noted.

This year, Gates and Buffett were ranked as the world’s second and third richest people, respectively, by the Forbes, which pegged Gates’ wealth at USD 53 billion and Buffett’s at USD 47 billion.

Buffett said the pledge to donate wealth would not affect this and his children’s lives. “They (children) have already received significant sums for their personal use and will receive more in the future….I will continue to live in a manner that gives me everything that I could possibly want in life,” he wrote in the letter.