It's December and Christmas is fast approaching! It is the season of giving and holiday cheers! For some, it starts on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Citizens line up the stores and search online to find gifts for their friends and loved ones. While the rest of us make lists, sixteen tech titans are giving millions of dollars away.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that he and his wife Priscilla Chan are giving away 99% of their Facebook shares (currently valued at $45 Billion) to charity.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg did not indicate where half of her wealth will go to, but she pledged it to The Giving Pledge.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1994 and started "The Giving Pledge" campaign which encourages other wealthy businessmen to donate half their wealth to charity.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, a GP member, plans to donate his $17.2 billion to his foundation which focuses on non-profit scientific research.
AOL co-founder Steve Case initiated the Case Foundation in 1997. The main goal was to focus the use of technology to make philanthropy more effective. He also founded Revolution, a group that invests in startups outside Silicon Valley. He's also a member of Gates' The Giving Pledge.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff launched SF Gives. He and his wife Lynne donated $200 million to the children's hospital at UCSF.
Irwin Jacobs, the Qualcomm co-founder, and his wife gave away $500 million to multiple charitable causes which includes MIT fellowships. He is also a member of The Giving Pledge.
Pierre Omidyar, eBay founder, is also a member of The Giving Pledge. They've personally donated their fortune in the fight against human trafficking.
Gordon Moore, Intel co-founder, created the Moore Foundation in 2001. The foundation focuses on environmental conservation and health concerns. He is also a member of The Giving Pledge.
Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, also a GP member donated $12.9 billion to renewable energy, science and pediatric health.
Google's Larry Page, on the other hand, has a different angle. He's investing his fortune to people like Elon Musk - people that focuses on changing the world for the better.
Spanx' CEO Sara Blakely, a GP member (and the first woman to do so) donates her fortune to female empowerment.
Larry Ellison, Oracle's founder, pledged 95% of his wealth to his medical foundation.
Dustin Moskovitz, Asana CEO and GP member, established Good Ventures - a philantrophic foundation to help distribute his wealth.
Richard Branson, Virgin Group founder and GP member, gave away half his fortune after figuring out that after several house fires money doesn't lead to happiness.
Netflix founder Reed Hastings and wife, GP members too, pledged their donation to education.
And these are the only ones we know, based on reports. Good to know that the world still has people like them, who share their earnings to the betterment of the world.
