The Giving Pledge’s numbers, reported Sunday by the New York Times, trace a steady decline. In its first five years, 113 families signed the Pledge. Then 72 over the next five, 43 in the five after that, and just four in all of 2024. The roster includes Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, and Elon Musk — some of the most powerful people in the world, and yet, in Peter Thiel’s words to the Times, it is a club that’s “really run out of energy . . .I don’t know if the branding is outright negative,” Thiel told the outlet, “but it feels way less important for people to join.”
People are going to people. While a noble idea, the pledge overlooks the sociopathic and selfish personality traits pretty much required to attain that level of wealth.
ETA: This is why tax policy is a better way to do this. Problem is if just one or two countries have such policies, the wealthy can hide from it. Not a reason not to have the tax policy, though. That’s where foreign policy should come into play.