Wow, no big surprise, eh?

Probably a wise move. You never know when you may need a few hundred bazillion$ to payoff this or that and/or make things vanish...

Whitman: No plans to join billionaires' pledge

By SAMANTHA YOUNG - Associated Press
Posted: 08/05/2010 07:03:51 AM PDT
Updated: 08/05/2010 07:28:44 AM PDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has no plans to give at least half her wealth to charity, as 40 of her fellow billionaires pledged to do Wednesday.

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and multibillionaire investor Warren Buffett released a list of wealthy families and individuals who have joined their six-week old campaign to give at least half their wealth to charity.

Asked about the pledge Tuesday, Whitman said she and husband Griffith Harsh have made substantial contributions to their own charitable foundation.

"We've done a number of different gifts, significantly, to education and the environment and other arenas," Whitman told reporters at a campaign stop in Folsom. "So we're going to continue to build our foundation."

In 2008, Whitman and her husband gave 500,000 shares of eBay stock to the foundation, which they valued at the time at more than $8.8 million, according to the latest filing with the Internal Revenue Service. The foundation received an extension to file its 2009 report, campaign spokesman Darrel Ng said.

Last year, Whitman was ranked 326th on Forbes' list of the 400 richest Americans. The magazine estimated the Republican candidate's wealth at $1.3 billion in March.

Individuals in 13 states have agreed to the pledge promoted by Buffett and Gates. They include Pierre Omidyar, who hired Whitman to run eBay, where she made her fortune.

Omidyar was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. His spokeswoman, Sarah Steven, said Omidyar had made the decision years ago that he would give away the vast majority of his wealth. Forbes estimated the Honolulu businessman's net worth at $3.6 billion in 2009. "In making the pledge, he hopes it will influence others to do the same," Steven said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.At least two of Whitman's major campaign donors also have signed the pledge -- Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad and Barron Hilton, chairman of the Hilton Hotels empire.

Buffett said he, Bill and Melinda Gates, and others have made 70 to 80 calls to some of the nation's wealthiest individuals. Many of those who have made the pledge will be asked to call others.

Omidyar's spokeswoman said he also had been asked to "help encourage other philanthropists to join the pledge" but said she was not aware of any plans Omidyar had to contact Whitman....

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If anyone has been paying attention, they know that Iranian born Pierre has been donating big bucks all over Hades. Getting his money's worth too.

 

I bet he can even make terrorism related lawsuits vanish into thin air with all that money!