Billionaire Sara Blakely Pledges to Give Away Half of Her Fortune
By: Jenna Goudreau, a Special to Overdrive
Sara Blakely, one of the world’s youngest female billionaires, has committed to donating half of her fortune to charity. The 42-year-old founder of lingerie company Spanx is the first self-made female billionaire to sign the Giving Pledge, an initiative by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates that encourages the world’s richest people to commit 50 percent of their wealth to philanthropic causes during their lifetime or after their death. Blakely was one of nine new billionaires to sign the pledge Tuesday, bringing the total to 114 commitments.