The rich give away their wealth

By Reuters - Saturday, March 28, 2015 09:53

Apple CEO Tim Cook is joining the roster of the very rich who are giving away their wealth. Fortune magazine cited the head of the world's largest technology corporation as saying he planned to donate his estimated $785 million fortune to charity - after paying for his 10-year-old nephew's college education. "You want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripples for change," Cook told the magazine. The 54-year-old's revelation is an example of the increasingly public philanthropy of the world's richest people. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Billionaire financier Warren Buffett, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates are encouraging the very wealthy to give away at least half their worth in their lifetimes through the "Giving Pledge" campaign. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Melinda Gates and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. REUTERS/Marcus Donner

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Jim Walton (L) and Alice Walton, part of the family that owns Walmart. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, is part of The Giving Pledge. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Billionaire activist-investor Carl Icahn is part of The Giving Pledge. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson is part of The Giving Pledge. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, and her husband David Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, are part of The Giving Pledge. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Former New York City Mayor and founder and CEO of Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, is part of The Giving Pledge. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is part of The Giving Pledge. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg and husband Barry Charles Diller, CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp, are part of The Giving Pledge. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok