We guess it's all relative - depending on the state of your bank account this morning, you might be able to give away half of your fortune, too (is it easier to hand out 50 per cent of your savings if you've only got a tenner than if you've got several thousand? And is it more generous?), but there's no doubt that Sheryl Sandberg's pledge is going to make a much bigger impact...
Facebook's Chief Operating Officer is the latest to sign up to the Giving Pledge - the billionaires' club started by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates whereby members commit to giving away half of their rather large fortune for good.
Sandberg, who most recently hit the headlines by launching the 'ban bossy' campaign is the second self-made female tech billionaire (after Hewlett-Packard's Meg Whitman) and also the second woman to have made the pledge (after Spanx’s genius Sara Blakely).
According to Forbes, the total amount of pledgers has now grown to 127, up from nothing four years ago — but still less than 10 per cent of the approximately 1,650 billionaires that are out there. We hope Dr Dre isn't screening any calls right now.
Apparently the group just had their annual gathering to discuss spending, which focused on partnering with government to maximize impact, and investing in women and girls. This isn't too surprising given that Sandberg has been a well-known advocate in this area, including board positions at Women for Women International and V-Day, and she’s funded, personally and through her bestseller of the same name, the Lean In Foundation.
While we'd definitely expect Sandberg to get at least a couple of rounds in if we were out on the town together (call us, Sandy!), rich or not, it's still an amazing committment.
She previously told Forbes:
“Businesses are going to care about diversity not because they want to do good in the world. They’re going to care about diversity if it’s going to change their bottom line.”
Image: Rex
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.