They may have their yachts, private jets, mansions, and rich troves of art, but are also stunningly generous.
Here are a few billionaires who have made it big in financial services and have committed to giving away at least half of their fortunes to philanthropic causes.
John Arnold
“We view our wealth in this light - not as an end in itself, but as an instrument to effect positive and transformative change. There is no reason for delay in making a difference.”
At one time, Arnold was considered one of the world’s top commodity traders. After a successful stint at Enron, where he worked on the crude oil desk and the natural gas desk, he utilized his $8 million bonus to launch his hedge fund in 2002 – Centaurus Advisors. Managing to distance himself from Enron’s legacy and raking in the moolah, he shocked the hedge-fund world by calling it quits two years ago, at the age of 38.
Lee Cooperman
“Sir Winston Churchill observed that ‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.’...It is in this spirit that we enthusiastically agree to take the Giving Pledge.”
The son of a plumber, he quit Goldman Sachs as head of the bank’s asset management business in 1991 to found hedge fund Omega Advisors. In 2011, he wrote an open letter to President Obama, calling on the president to end his class warfare rhetoric. Joseph Palermo, professor at California State University, wrote an interesting retort in The Huffington Post and called him a “whiny billionaire”.
Warren Buffett
“Were we to use more than 1% of my claim checks (Berkshire Hathaway stock certificates) on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our well-being would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99% can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others.”
This legend needs no introduction. In all humility, he says that this pledge does not leave him contributing his most precious asset – time. Even though he has committed to fulfilling this 99% pledge, he admits that it leaves his lifestyle and that of his children untouched. They will give up nothing they need or want by fulfilling this pledge.
James Stowers
“More than 99% of our wealth will go to philanthropy during our lifetime or at death.”
Also known as Jim Stowers, he is the founder of Twentieth Century Mutual Funds which got renamed to American Century Investments at the turn of the century. He pioneered the application of computer driven models to investment management and wrote his own proprietary computer programme to identify companies with the desirable growth characteristics.
Sanford Weill
“We will continue to give away all of the wealth we have been so fortunate to make except for a very small percentage allocated to our children and grandchildren. We are firm believers that shrouds don't have pockets.”
In 1981, American Express bought Shearson Loeb Rhoades, at that time Wall Street's second-largest brokerage house, for around $915 million in stock (the exact amount is debated). During this period, Weill was chairman of Shearson. He later moved to Citigroup. According to TIME, the former chief executive and chairman of Citigroup was one of the 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.
William Ackman
“It is much easier to be generous when you have more than you need, so this is not a difficult thing for us to do. I get tremendous pleasure from helping others. It’s what makes my life worth living.”
Ackman founded New York-based hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management. Late 2012, he announced a massive short position in Herbalife and was instantly challenged by rival hedge fund titans Daniel Loeb and Carl Icahn. This month, DealBook - The New York Times, announced that the $1 billion wager is still in the red.
Carl Icahn
“With wealth comes responsibility – those who have benefitted the most from our economic system have a responsibility to give back to society in a meaningful way.”
Icahn controls and manages investment vehicle Icahn Enterprises. According to Reuters, Icahn is Herbalife’s biggest backer (see reference to Herbalife above). In 2009, he took a stake in Forest Laboratories and aggressively sought change at the drug maker. Today, with a stake of around 11% in the company, he won hands down as drug maker Actavis agreed to buy Forest Laboratories for $25 billion in cash and stock.
Ray Dalio
“Beyond having enough money to help secure the basics - quality relationships, health, stimulating ideas, etc. - having more money, while nice, wasn't all that important.”
Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates, one of the biggest hedge funds in the world. In a very recent interview in Huffington Post, he claimed that meditation more than any other factor has been the secret to his success. An interesting thought considering that he was apparently fired from his first job after he got into a drunken disagreement with his boss and punched him. He anticipates economic trends based on his study of economic history and the economic machine. His 30-minute film How the economic machine works has over 8 lakh hits on YouTube. He explains the economic machine by breaking down the economy and markets into their component pieces and studying the relationships of these pieces through time.
The quotes have been taken from The Giving Pledge, a campaign to encourage the wealthiest people in the world to make a commitment to give away at least half of their fortunes to philanthropic causes. The campaign was made public in 2010 by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
