- Blackstone’s Stephen A. Schwarzman has committed to giving away the majority of his wealth to philanthropy with the signing of The Giving Pledge
The Blackstone Group Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder Stephen A. Schwarzman has committed to giving away the majority of his wealth to philanthropy with the signing of The Giving Pledge. The Giving Pledge is an organization started by Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010, which involves billionaires around the world pledging to donate the majority of their wealth to charities.
The Giving Pledge has 206 members across 23 countries. And they have committed over $500 billion between all of them. Some of the members include Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla founder Elon Musk, WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, investor Bill Ackman, MacKenzie Bezos, Manoj Bhargava, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, and Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff.
Schwarzman’s net worth is estimated to be about $13.2 billion. A majority of his wealth was generated through his work at The Blackstone Group — which was established in 1985.
Over the past decade, Schwarzman donated hundreds of millions of dollars to several institutions, including The New York Public Library, Tsinghua University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Oxford.
“Although plans for my estate have long reflected the principles of the Pledge, I am joining because I think it’s an important signal to encourage others to step up philanthropically as well,” said Schwarzman in a letter to Bill Gates. “Blackstone’s success has changed my life in innumerable ways by giving me the means to pursue many interests, including a variety of philanthropic pursuits.”
