More billionaires pledge to give away half wealth

NEW YORK  (Reuters) - Seventeen U.S. billionaires, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, have joined other wealthy American in pledging to give away at least half their fortunes as part of a philanthropic campaign by two of the world’s richest men -- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg listens to a question after unveiling a new messaging system during a news conference in San Francisco, California

A total of 57 billionaires now have joined The Giving Pledge, which was launched by Microsoft founder Gates and investor Buffett in June. The campaign announced the new pledges in a statement late on Wednesday.

The campaign asks U.S. billionaires to give away at least half their wealth during their lifetime or after their death, and to publicly state their intention with a letter explaining their decision.

In addition to Zuckerberg, the new group of billionaires taking the pledge includes AOL co-founder Steve Case, financier Carl Icahn and Michael Milken, the former Wall Street executive who went to prison for securities violations.

The list

   PAUL G. ALLEN

   LAURA AND JOHN ARNOLD

   NICOLAS BERGGRUEN

   MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG

   ELI AND EDYTHE BROAD

   WARREN BUFFETT

   JEAN AND STEVE CASE

   MICHELE CHAN AND PATRICK SOON-SHIONG

   LEE AND TOBY COOPERMAN

   BARRY DILLER AND DIANE VON FURSTENBERG

   ANN AND JOHN DOERR

   LARRY ELLISON

   TED FORSTMANN

   BILL AND MELINDA GATES

   DAVID AND BARBARA GREEN

   LYDA HILL

   BARRON HILTON

   JON AND KAREN HUNTSMAN

  CARL ICAHN

   JOAN AND IRWIN JACOBS

   GEORGE B. KAISER

  SIDNEY KIMMEL

   ELAINE AND KEN LANGONE

   GERRY AND MARGUERITE LENFEST

   LORRY I. LOKEY

   GEORGE LUCAS

   DUNCAN AND NANCY MACMILLAN

   ALFRED E. MANN

   JOE AND RIKA MANSUETO

   BERNIE AND BILLI MARCUS

   MICHAEL AND LORI MILKEN

   GEORGE P. MITCHELL

   THOMAS S. MONAGHAN

  TASHIA AND JOHN MORGRIDGE

   DUSTIN MOSKOVITZ

   PIERRE AND PAM OMIDYAR

   BERNARD AND BARBRO OSHER

  RONALD O. PERELMAN

   PETER G. PETERSON

   T. BOONE PICKENS

   JULIAN H. ROBERTSON, JR.

   DAVID ROCKEFELLER

   DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN

   HERB AND MARION SANDLER

   DENNY SANFORD

   VICKI AND ROGER SANT

  WALTER SCOTT, JR.

   TOM AND CINDY SECUNDA

  JIM AND MARILYN SIMONS

  JEFF SKOLL

   TOM STEYER AND KAT TAYLOR

   JIM AND VIRGINIA STOWERS

  TED TURNER

   SANFORD AND JOAN WEILL

  SHELBY WHITE

  CHARLES ZEGAR AND MERRYL SNOW ZEGAR

   MARK

ZUCKERBERG