New York, Aug. 6: Philanthropist billionaires, Mr Bill Gates and Mr Warren Buffett, will approach the rich in India and China to urge them to donate at least half their wealth.
The move is part of the Gates-Buffett initiative, launched in June, that originally aimed at asking American billionaires to pledge that their wealth would be donated either during their lifetime or upon death. The two now plan to take the idea beyond the US borders.
“Mr Buffett said he and Mr Gates in coming months will meet wealthy individuals in China and India to talk about the pledge in hope of adding more names from outside the US,” The Wall Street Journal said.
On Wednesday, 34 people joined six billionaires, including Mr Gates and Mr Buffet, who have taken the pledge.
They included New York Mayor, Mr Michael Bloomberg, director, Mr George Lucas, Mr David Rockefeller, and media mogul, Mr Ted Turner.
The US has 403 billionaires — the most in the world, and New York tops the list within the country. The number two spot is taken by China, which is followed by Russia.
This year, the Forbes list of the richest features two Indians in the top ten. Reliance Industries chairman, Mr Mukesh Ambani, is at the fourth spot with a networth of $29 billion, followed by steel tycoon Mr Lakshmi Mittal, who has a networth of $28.7 billion.
Although China has the larger number of billionaires, ten of Asia’s top 25 rich are from Indian, while China has one.
These include Mr Mukesh Ambani and Mr Mittal in the top two positions, along with Azim Premji ($17 billion), Anil Ambani ($13.7 billion), Shashi and Ravi Ruia ($13 billion), Savitri Jindal ($12.2 billion), Kushal Pal Singh ($9 billion), Kumar Birla ($7.9 billion), Sunil Mittal ($7.8 billion) and Anil Agarwal ($6.4 billion).