Dozens of U.S. billionaire promised to give at least half their wealth to charity

New York  – Tens of millionaire United States (U.S.) on Wednesday (4 / 8 ) promised to give at least half their wealth to charity, as part of a charity campaign two richest men, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.Forbes magazine estimates based on the billionaire’s wealth, at least amereka can give 150 billion dollars worth of money. Among the rich people who joined the campaign for “The Giving Pledge” is a New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the media magnate Barry Diller and Ted Turner, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, director of “Star Wars” George Lucas and energy king T. Boone Pickens.

Till now 40 richest people in the U.S., including Microsoft founder Gates and investor Warren Buffet who give a commitment.Since the campaign was launched in June, Buffett, Gates and his wife Melinda have spoken to the 20 percent richest people in the U.S. – between 70 to 80 people – to take their share. “In many cases we believe they already have the interest to charity. Already there are 40 people who signed,” said Buffett.”We want to recruit as many mungkind from 40 people to contribute and so they invite others so we can make a bigger stake and start with the good.”

U.S. millionaire campaigns asked to give at least half their wealth during their lives, or after they die, and to publicize their cause with a letter explaining their decision.Gates has kekeyaan approximately 53 billion worth of dollars, which put him in second place in the world’s richest people list of Forbes magazine. Buffett’s third-richest man is, his wealth comes from insurance and investment company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The company ranked third in the list with a fortune worth 47 billion dollars.

“The Giving Pledge” does not accept money or directing people on how menyumbang.Para billionaires are only required to make a moral commitment to give their wealth to charity.”The idea is not to tell anyone when or how to do it, but at least offer what has been learned by the other,” Buffett said.Millionaire who was involved during this average has been actively involved in charity utnuk kegitan everything from genetics and cancer research, education, gun control, library and art.

Tax Avoidance motivation was not
“I’ve always said that I like making money, and I like to give it. I do not like to inheritance. More harm than benefit,” said Pickens, whose wealth worth approximately one billion dollars.

Buffet and Gates will make some dinner this year to recruit more millionaires, and a member of “The Giving Pledge” will hold annual meetings to discuss their charitable activities. They also will meet with some of the richest people in China in September and India in March.”We expect this to be followed by other countries. If they want to follow what we consider to be a good idea and do it, we’ll be happy,” said Buffett.Forbes said the U.S. is home to 403 billionaires, the highest compared to other countries.

“I always thought that the best thing is to make the world a better place for your children and your grandchildren, instead of giving them some money. The kids you get more benefit from your charity work than your legacy,” said Bloomberg , which has a net worth of 18 billion dollars.

Buffett said there were no members of “The Giving Pledge” whose motivation is to avoid taxes.Real estate and construction billionaire Eli Broad, the capitalist John Doerr, a media entrepreneur and former leader Gerry Lensfest Cisco Systems John Morgridge joined Gates and Buffett as “The Giving Pledge” was introduced in June. As many as 34 other members announced on Wednesday.

Buffett pledged in 2006 to give 99 percent of fatherly fortune to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and family charities yayasana. Bill and Melinda has so far donated more than 28 billion of their wealth to their foundations. List of billionaires and their letters can be read on the site http://www.thegivingpledge.org.

Who Partake Join The Millionaires
Paul Allen (57) has a wealth of 7.8 billion poundstrling founded Microsoft. She resigned in 1983 because of fear of cancer. Since then she has helped charities.

Michael Bloomberg (68) is a financial news tycoon with a fortune of 12 billion pounds, which now serves the New York mayoralty for the third time. He once said: “The best financial planning ended with the toss check to the funeral home.”

Warren Buffett (79) is the world’s third richest man who has a wealth of 30 billion pounds through the investment company Berkshire Hathaway. He vowed to give 99 percent of the money.

Bill (54) and Melinda Gates (45). Bill is the inventor of Microsoft, and he remains the largest single shareholder with a profit of 33 billion worth of poundstrling. He founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, which has donated more than 17 billion pounds for charity.

George Lucas (66) has a personal fortune of about 1:26 billion pounds. Director of “Star Wars” it never won an Oscar and Golden Globe and she often works with Steven Spielberg.

T. Boone Pickens (82) American financial expert who heads the BP Capital Management and was worth two billion pounds.

Rockefeller David (1995) is a member of the Rockefeller family, one of the famous American family that started from the 19th century. Personal fortune valued at 2 billion pounds.

Diane von Furstenberg (63) and Barry Diller (68) between them, worth a combined wealth of more than 1 billion pounds. Diane is a designer known for “wrap dress” designs, while Barry’s famous thanks to popular shows like “The Simpson” while working at Fox television stations.

Ted Turner (71) founder of the CNN news network and has a net worth of 1.1 billion pounds. He had more land than other U.S. citizens and have the largest bison herds on the planet.

Barron Hilton (82) is one of Conrad Hilton, who started the chain of hotels with the same name, and is the grandfather of Paris Hilton. He has wealth valued at approximately 1.6 billion pounds.(AFP)

Selling,Buying, and Twittering All the Way

Once upon a time, people mailed their holiday wishes to the North Pole and hoped for a reply on Christmas Day. Nowadays they are sending their wishes into cyberspace and are apt to get a reply in minutes.America’s first Twitter Christmas got under way in earnest on Friday. Across the land, retailers and their customers used the social networking site to talk to one another about bargains, problems, purchases and shopping strategies.

After buying a new navigation system at 6 a.m. on the most frenzied shopping day of the year, Laura S. Kern of Los Angeles could not figure out why it was not giving her traffic updates. She sent a message to Best Buy’s Twitter account and within five minutes not one, but two Best Buy employees responded with fix-it advice.In Bloomington, Minn., Mall of America used its Twitter page to tell consumers two of its parking areas were at capacity and that their best bet was to park near Ikea.Twitter permits public communication via short, to-the-point messages. Many people use it to send mundane updates to their friends, but increasingly, the nation’s retailers see it as a business tool.It gives customers a practical way to cajole a retailer, complain about something or ask questions.

A Twitter post can in theory be seen by millions, and thus packs more punch than an e-mail message or a phone call to a store. The big retailers are all scrambling this Christmas to come up with Twitter plans. They are designating tech-savvy employees to respond to the posts, sometimes by providing up-to-minute inventory information from a sales floor, for example, or by offering help with some balky gadget.“It’s one of the greatest emerging communication channels out there,” said Greg Ahearn, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce for Toys “R” Us. “This is a way people can stay connected with the brand in a way they’ve never been able to before.”So far this shopping weekend, special deals have been posted on Twitter from stores as varied as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Toys “R“ Us, Staples, Gap, Bloomingdale’s, and Barneys. (Links to the retailing Twitter accounts mentioned in this article can be found in the Web version of the story on NYTimes.com.)

For the uninitiated, Twitter.com is a Web site where each member has a password-protected page. It has a blank box for typing in a message of 140 characters or fewer, an act known as tweeting.

To see a retailer’s messages, Twitter users “follow” the retailer, which means that the chain’s posts show up on their Twitter home page when they log in. And the system allows users to send messages in the other direction, so that a retailer’s employees will see them.

“I think in this economy you need to leverage every asset that you have,” said James Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide, who sends messages under the Twitter name, or handle, DisneyStorePrez.

On Friday morning, as consumers flooded Disney Stores around the country, Mr. Fielding messaged: “We have amazing ONE DAY ONLY deals previewing on our Facebook page — become a fan today and find out more!”

Retailers hope that if they send Twitter messages, consumers will come. About 47 percent of retailers said they would increase their use of social media this holiday season, according to a study by Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation, an industry group. And more than half of retailers said they added or improved their Facebook and Twitter pages. There are advantages for consumers too, like discounts. For instance, those who decided to follow Gap Outlet received an offer for 15 percent off purchases of $75 or more.

As shoppers jammed the aisles on Friday at a Best Buy store in Arlington Heights, Ill., an employee, Jerry DeFrancisco, went up to a computer kiosk and used his Twitter account to tell customers about Best Buy’s home theater deals. Then he resumed his in-store duties, helping a customer decipher a sales circular.

A few months ago, Best Buy began piloting a Twelpforce — a Twitter-inspired play on “help force” — of some 2,500 employees that answer consumers’ questions in real time.

“It’s 24-hour access to our employees,” said Brad Smith, director of interactive marketing and emerging media for Best Buy. The Twelpforce had fielded about 25,000 questions even before gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend.

Ms. Kern in Los Angeles used the service on Friday. After she could not get her new navigation system to work, she tried Best Buy’s telephone support line, only to receive a warning that her wait would be an hour. So she posted on Twitter instead, and within minutes, Best Buy employees were sending her useful links and details about her gadget. “It’s amazing,” she said later in the day. (Her interaction with the employees ultimately helped her realize she would need to go back to the store for help.)

Many retailers will be posting to their Twitter pages throughout the weekend and the entire holiday season. Some chains have an official Twitter account. Others have many, like one for each store, or one for each employee who wants to post messages. There are Twitter pages for designers, like Nicole Miller and Diane von Furstenberg.

Retailers also use Facebook to interact with their customers. But Facebook, with its photo albums and various applications, does not have the same no-frills immediacy as Twitter — which is why Twitter is ideal for instantaneously announcing sales.In addition to bargains, stores are also using Facebook and Twitter to promote contests and games that they hope will keep consumers engaged and coming back. Best Buy has an interactive Secret Santa application on its Facebook page. Gap is using Twitter to inform New York City residents and visitors where its “Gap Cheer” bus (filled with dancers and drummers) will be parked and giving away sweaters and jeans.

Of course, sometimes retailers simply use their Twitter posts to capture the spirit of the season. At 3:30 Thursday morning, an employee posted seven words on the Macy’s Twitter page, about a marching band that was practicing hours before the chain’s Thanksgiving day parade.It said: “Is he really running with a tuba?”