14 billionaires join Bill Gates, Warren Buffett in giving away more than half their money

David Carrig | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption 8 men have as much as money as 3.6 billion people A new study shows 8 famous billionaires have a net worth that equals the poorest half of the world. Researchers are calling on world leaders to change that.

Welcome the newest class of billionaires who have pledged to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

Fourteen more billionaires have signed on to the Giving Pledge – the initiative created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010 to “help address society’s most pressing problems” by shifting “the social norms of philanthropy toward giving more, giving sooner and giving smarter.”

The new signatories plan to use their wealth to support causes focused on poverty alleviation, education, healthcare research, climate change and the environment.

“We all have a moral obligation as the more affluent in society to give back as best we know how,” MeTL Group CEO Mohammed Dewji of Tanzania said in a statement.

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More than 168 billionaires have now signed the pledge and they represent 21 countries and range in age from 31 to 93.

“Bill and Warren and I are excited to welcome the new, very international group of philanthropists joining the Giving Pledge, and we look forward to learning from their diverse experiences,” Melinda Gates said in a press release.

Here is the list of the newest members:

Leonard H. Ainsworth (Australia)

Chairman Emeritus and Executive Director of Ainsworth Game Technology,

Mohammed Dewji (Tanzania)

President and CEO of MeTL Group

Dagmar Dolby (United States)

Philanthropist, pro-choice activist, widow of Ray Dolby, founder of Dolby Laboratories

DONG Fangjun (People’s Republic of China)

Dongfang Huiquan Financial Holdings (Chairman)

Kjell Inge Røkke and Anne Grete Eidsvig (Norway)

Chairman of Norwegian industrial investment company Aker

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Monaco, Cyprus)

Founder of EasyJet

Nick and Leslie Hanauer (United States)

Venture capitalist and founder of Civic Ventures

Iza and Samo Login (Slovenia)

Founders of media and entertainment company Outfit7

Dean and Marianne Metropoulos (United States)

Private equity firm Metropoulos & Co.

Terry and Susan Ragon (United States)

Founder and CEO of InterSystems Corp.

Nat Simons and Laura Baxter-Simons (United States)

Investment management firm Meritage Group; co-founders of Sea Change Foundation

Robert Frederick Smith (United States)

Founder and CEO of Vista Equity partners

Harry H. Stine (United States)

Founder of Stine Seed

YOU Zhonghui ( People’s Republic of China)

Chairwoman of Shenzhen Seaskyland Investment Holdings Group