Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), Co-Founder and CEO of crypto exchange FTX, has signed the Giving Pledge.
The Giving Pledge is an initiative, started in 2010 by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates, that encourages some of the world’s richest individuals, couples, and families to publicly declare that they will dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes “either during their lifetime or in their will.” It “came to life following a series of conversations with philanthropists about how they could set a new standard of generosity among the ultra-wealthy.”
According to a report by CoinDesk, SBF, who is currently ranked by Forbes the 79th richest person in the world with an estimated real time net worth of $20.3 billion (as of 5 June 2022), has joined a host of other billionaires in pledging to give the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes. The list of the pledge signatories includes Richard and Joan Branson, Ray and Barbara Dalio, Larry Ellison, Carl Icahn, Meta Founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
The 30-year-old American has become one of the world’s wealthiest individuals thanks to his equity stake in FTX. The exchange closed a $400 million fundraising at the beginning of the year, and now holds a valuation of $32 billion.
Here is what SBF wrote in his short Pledge Letter:
“A while ago I became convinced that our duty was to do the most we could for the long run aggregate utility of the world.
“In the end, it’s the work my friends and colleagues at foundations do that matters the most. A more just world would shine a brighter light on them. In this world, I’m honored to be able to support their work.“
SBF has been an active participant in philanthropy over the years, including giving a record-setting $12 million check to fund effective altruism-aligned political candidate Carrick Flynn, who lost in Oregon’s congressional primaries last month.
His exchange has also played a role in funding charitable organizations. FTX Foundation, the philanthropic arm of FTX, of aims to donate 1% of all net fees to “the world’s most effective charities.”
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