'Commit donating half to ....': Melinda French Gates' message to Spacex IPO millionaires

Following SpaceX’s historic Initial Public Offering (IPO, a new wave of millionaires and billionaires has officially been minted. With rival tech giants OpenAI and Anthropic expected to go public soon, the tech industry is getting ready for a generation of newly wealthy individuals.

Now, one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists, Melinda French Gates, has a direct message for this new group of wealthy tech workers: start planning to give at least half of that money away right now.“Commit now to giving at least half of it away. No matter what it turns out to be, no matter how large, how small it turns out to be. If you even have the ability to invest in these IPOs, believe me, you have the ability to give half away,” French Gates told Fortune in an interview.

French Gates says wealth is a ‘responsibility’

French Gates pointed out that American billionaires owe a debt of gratitude to the country that helped them succeed.“Anyone who is a billionaire in the US benefitted from growing up” or working in this country, she noted, adding that public infrastructure, access to education, and healthcare are the foundational blocks that make it possible to build multi-billion-dollar companies in the first place.French Gates, whose personal net worth is estimated at $19 billion, co-founded the “Giving Pledge” in 2010 alongside Warren Buffett and her ex-husband, Bill Gates.

The initiative invites the world's ultra-wealthy to commit to donating the majority of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or through their wills.So far, more than 250 global philanthropists have signed the pledge, including Amazon billionaire MacKenzie Scott, Canva co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, and Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky.

Fund the future, not flash fortune

After leaving the Gates Foundation, French Gates has focused her personal giving through her independent firm, Pivotal.

She recently announced a $215 million commitment to women’s midlife health and menopause.When asked, “what specific billionaire behaviors are disappointing to you?” , French Gates said: “I’ve never thought it’s good for billionaires to be flashy about their wealth. Flashing that around, that doesn’t do anybody any good. Fine, buy some nice things for yourself, but you don’t have to be flashy about it.”