Billionaire businessman BR Shetty pledges to donate half his wealth

New York, Jun 2: After Infosys co-founder and chairman Nandan Nilekani and his wife Rohini Nilekani, three more Indian-origin billionaires have joined the philanthropic initiative created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, pledging to commit more than half of their wealth to charitable causes.

The Nilekanis, BR Shetty and his wife Chandrakumari Raghuram Shetty, Aneel and Allison Bhusri and Shamsheer and Shabeena Vayalil are among the 14 philanthropists to have joined the Giving Pledge throughout the previous year, bringing the total to 183 from 22 countries since the pledge began in 2010 with 40 American philanthropists, a press release from the Giving Pledge said on Wednesday.

No w in its eighth year, the philanthropy effort continues to expand internationally with the addition of philanthropists from Canada, India, the UAE, as well as the US.

UAE-based BR Shetty and his wife Chandrakumari Raghuram Shetty also joined the pledge. Shetty founded NMC Health, one of the largest healthcare organisations in the world across 13 countries. He started BR Life, his healthcare company focused on people below the poverty line in India, Egypt and Nepal. He runs and supports educational institutions across the UAE and India, including for children with special needs. He has supported victims of natural and human calamities across the world.

The organisation said many of the new additions to the Giving Pledge are already actively engaged in philanthropy, providing support to a range of causes including education, poverty alleviation, medical and healthcare research, economic development, entrepreneurship, and advocacy and governance.

They bring to philanthropy their expertise from fields such as finance, food retail, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, property development, technology and venture capital. The 183 pledgers range in age from 32 to 94. Globally, signatories represent 22 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and the United States.