Buffet and Gates's Secret Campaign to Get Billionaires to Give Away Half Their Money

---

Fortune has a fascinating article detailing how, over the last few years, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates have been convening secret meetings of billionaires. Their aim: to convince them all to pledge half of their net worth to philanthropic causes now or at their death. If they get a good chunk of the Fortune 400 list on board (this is, apparently, their goal), the total amount that goes to charity could be in the $500 to $600 billion range.

The article also includes some great primary documents, including a letter from Gates and Buffett to David Rockefeller proposing that the three of them—all of whom have realized that helping people with money is more satisfying than stockpiling it—get together to "discuss whether there is more we can all do to support and encourage others who have not yet reached the same stage."