Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg pledges to give away at least half of her $1 billion fortune

• Sheryl Sandberg has pledged to give at least half of her fortune away during her lifetime or upon her death
• She joined the Giving Pledge, begun by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates
• 127 other billionaires have also made the pledge
• Sandberg becomes the second self-made female billionaire to join after Spanx found CEO Sara Blakely

The Daily Mail (UK) | 10 May 2014

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has joined other billionaires in pledging to give away most her of her fortune.

Sandberg, 44, is the second self-made female billionaire to join the Giving Pledge, a commitment to give away personal wealth, after Spanx maven Sara Blakely.

She is one of seven new 'Pledgers' to commit to giving away at least half their fortunes during their lifetimes or upon their deaths.

Philanthropist: Sheryl Sandberg has committed to giving a large part of her estimated $1 billion fortune away

New pledgers: Sandberg's husband Dave Goldberg has also joined the Giving Pledge

The Giving Pledge was begun by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates.

Buffett himself has already said he will give away 99 per cent of his $58.5 billion net worth, and the Gates' have pledged 95 per cent.

Forbes reports that Sandberg's husband Dave Goldberg, early Google employee Craig Silverstein and his wife Mary Obelnicki, Kinko's found Paul Orfalea and his wife Natalie and transport tycoon Ann Gloag also became signatories.

These new additions bring the group to 127, a group that has amassed in the last four years.

First female pledger: Spanx founder Sara Blakely was the first self-made female billionaire to make the pledge

However, by Forbes' count, this is less than 10 per cent of the 1,650 billionaires in existence.

A group of Giving Pledgers met Friday for an annual gathering, this year held in Santa Barbara.

Forbes reports that this year's event focused heavily on partnering with government to maximize impact, and social entrepreneurship.

Another focus was investing in girls and women, an issue close to Sandberg's heart.

Pledgers commit to giving with a Pledge Letter, which details the reasons they chose to give and to which causes they intend to dedicate their money.

Billionaire's club: Warren Buffett (left) and Bill and Melinda Gates (right) were the first to pledge to give away their fortunes

Sandberg has not yet made her letter public, but she's a well-known feminist and advocate for girls and women with her own organization called the Lean In Foundation.

'We are thrilled to welcome this diverse group of business leaders and philanthropists to the pledge,' Warren Buffett said.

'They bring a wealth of expertise to the group. We will learn a lot from their experiences as we collectively aim to inspire one another to earlier and better giving.'

The Associated Press reports that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were the most generous American philanthropists in 2013, with a donation of 18 million shares of Facebook stock, valued at more than $970 million, to a Silicon Valley nonprofit in December.