A secretly held meeting that happened on May 5, 2009 at the Rockefeller University escaped the prying eyes of the public and media until a week later, when New York-based website IrishCentral.com first divulged details of the unusual confab.

In attendance were some of the most recognizable names in the country – the who’s who in the world of capital and philanthropy. The meeting, organized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, centered on a discussion about charitable giving. Starting at 3pm and lasting throughout dinner, America’s most generous individuals discussed and traded ideas and experiences of philanthropic causes and prospects for the future.

According to IrishCentral.com, every philanthropist present gave a 15-minute talk about “how they saw the future global economic climate, the future priorities for philanthropy, and what they felt the elite group should do.”

The roster of participants was practically pulled right of out of Forbes’ wealthiest Americans list. It included:

• Bill Gates (ranked 1)
• Warren E. Buffett (ranked 2)
• Mayor Bloomberg (ranked 17)
• George Soros (ranked 29)
• real estate mogul Eli Broad (ranked 93) and his wife, Edythe
• Oprah Winfrey (ranked 234)
• David Rockefeller Sr. (ranked 305) and son David Jr.
• Ted Turner (ranked 376)
• Peter G. Peterson (ranked 430), co-founder of buyout firm Blackstone Group
• Julian H. Robertson Jr. (ranked 559)
• John P. Morgridge (ranked 647), former chairman of Cisco Systems

Put together, the clandestine meeting involved individuals valued at around $120 billion, based on Forbes’ February estimates.

Their net worth is as notable as their generosity, often venturing in partnerships on several occasions to pursue the common good. Bill and Melinda Gates, the world’s biggest corporate givers, recently received a $37 billion pledge from Warren Buffet for the Gates Foundation. Overall, the attendees to the meeting have contributed a total of over $72.5 billion to numerous charitable causes, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Participants had scant replies to media queries, citing a confidentiality agreement.

Post Author: guest

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Philanthropy News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.