Warren Buffett Defends the ‘Giving Pledge’ Against Peter Thiel

The 94-year-old still has time to defend his belief that the wealthy have an obligation to make society better.

EXPERT OPINION BY JASON ATEN, TECH COLUMNIST @JASONATEN

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks to the press as he arrives at the 2019 annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 4, 2019. (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP)

At this point in his life, it’s hard to imagine that Warren Buffett has much time to worry about what other people think about him. Widely considered to be one of—if not the—greatest investor of all time, Buffett has also been an outspoken advocate for philanthropy. Buffett was, along with Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, the founder of The Giving Pledge, where billionaires promised to give away the majority of their wealth in their lifetimes.

Lately, however, some billionaires have had second thoughts.

According to the New York Times, Peter Thiel has privately encouraged roughly a dozen signers of the Giving Pledge to cancel their commitments, calling the initiative an “Epstein-adjacent, fake Boomer club.” Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, quietly left the group. Larry Ellison “amended” his pledge. At the same time, the pace of new signers has dropped sharply.

The Giving Pledge — the philanthropic initiative Warren Buffett co-founded with Bill Gates in 2010, asking the world’s wealthiest people to commit the majority of their wealth to charity — is facing what the Times is calling a billionaire backlash.

How Anthropic's Claude AI Became a Co-Founder

Buffett’s response was characteristic: a short, direct email to the Times reaffirming his belief in the Pledge, noting with his usual dry candor that while his “physical limitations” have reduced his own participation in gatherings in recent years, he has no intention of changing his position on the success of the Pledge.

That’s it. He didn’t have a press conference or even make an announcement on his own. He just sent a statement in response to a question about whether he really meant what he said.

It would be easy to write this off as a personality conflict — Thiel vs. Buffett. Or, you could say that it’s a generational difference and move on. But the critique is worth taking seriously, because it reflects a genuine shift in how a lot of influential people now think about wealth and obligation.

© Inc.com