Facebook創始人等16富豪籤捐贈誓言

The billionaire founder of social network Facebook Inc. has agreed to give the majority of his wealth to charity, part of a broader group of rich entrepreneurs committing to philanthropy earlier in their lives.
社交網站Facebook Inc.的富豪創始人扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)已同意把他的多數財富捐給慈善事業。包括他在內，一羣富裕創業家在人生的較早階段做出了慈善承諾。

Mark Zuckerberg has signed onto the 'Giving Pledge,' which asks its signatories to commit publicly to give away the majority of their wealth.
扎克伯格已簽署“捐贈誓言”(Giving Pledge)。誓言書要求籤署人公開承諾捐出自己的大多數財富。

The 26-year-old is one of 16 billionaires new to the pledge, which now totals more than 50 donors. New names include AOL co-founder Steve Case, investor Carl Icahn and former junk-bond king Michael Milken.
26歲的扎克伯格是16位新加入的富豪之一，目前整個羣體已經有50多人。新加入者還包括美國在線(AOL)創始人之一史蒂夫•凱斯(Steve Case)、投資家卡爾•伊坎(Carl Icahn)和曾經的垃圾債券大王麥克爾•米爾肯(Michael Milken)。

They join existing pledges made by wealthy individuals and families including Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, film director George Lucas and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
其他一些富裕個人和家族此前已經做出承諾，他們包括甲骨文(Oracle Corp.)創始人拉里•埃裏森(Larry Ellison)、電影導演喬治•盧卡斯(George Lucas)和紐約市長邁克爾•布隆伯格(Michael Bloomberg)。

The Giving Pledge is an effort organized by software mogul Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to persuade the world's rich to boost their giving.
“捐贈誓言”是軟件大亨比爾•蓋茨(Bill Gates)和投資家沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)爲勸說世界富人更慷慨地捐贈而發起的一場活動。

'I view this as a call to others who might in their thirties or forties use some of their creativity to get involved in philanthropy earlier in life,' Mr. Milken, 64, said of the pledge.
64歲的米爾肯說，在我看來，誓言書是呼籲其他年齡可能在三四十歲的人動用一定的創造力，在人生的較早階段參與慈善事業。

Those pledging are part of a broader shift in philanthropy, in which successful business people -- often entrepreneurs -- are giving more of their money to charity far earlier than their predecessors. It was a trend that was helped along by Mr. Gates, who started his foundation while still leading Microsoft Corp.
這些人的承諾符合整個慈善事業的一種變化，即成功商界人士（常常都是創業家）比其前輩捐贈數額更大，時間也遠遠提前。蓋茨在他掌管微軟公司(Microsoft Corp.)的時候就已經成立自己的基金會，一定程度上促成了這樣一種趨勢。

Mr. Case, 52, and his wife Jean Case, 50, said they signed the pledge because they hoped it would help philanthropists learn from each other. 'It is less about what size of a check that you write and more about the outcome,' Mr. Case said.
52歲的凱斯及其50歲的妻子吉恩•凱斯(Jean Case)說，他們之所以簽署誓言書，是因爲他們希望這樣有助於慈善家們相互學習。凱斯說，重要的不是支票的數額，而是結果。

Ms. Case said Internet entrepreneurs have a unique interest in philanthropy. 'The folks that helped bring AOL to life were out to change the world,' she said. 'It seems a natural thing that as they look at the role they want to play, they are giving back in big ways.'
吉恩•凱斯說，互聯網創業家對慈善事業擁有獨特的興趣。她說，那些幫助美國在線起死回生的人們要改變世界去了；當他們即將發揮他們想發揮的作用時，他們是在大規模地回饋社會，這似乎是一件很自然的事情。

Messrs. Icahn and Zuckerberg weren't available to comment. In a video prepared by the Giving Pledge, Mr. Zuckerberg said, 'There's so much that needs to be done, it would be better to start now.'
記者未能聯繫到伊坎夫婦和扎克伯格置評。扎克伯格在“捐贈誓言”製作的一個視頻裏說，需要做的事情太多，最好是從現在就開始。

Starting last year, Mr. Gates, his wife Melinda Gates, Mr. Buffett and other wealthy individuals hosted a series of dinners for billionaires to discuss setting up the pledge. That led to an announcement in June of the pledge and its earliest signers.
從去年開始，蓋茨、蓋茨妻子梅琳達•蓋茨(Melinda Gates)、巴菲特和其他富人主持一系列晚宴招待億萬富豪，討論發起捐贈誓言的事情。討論的結果是在今年6月份公佈了誓言書及其最早的一批簽署人。

Since then, Mr. Gates, Ms. Gates and Mr. Buffett have been calling on billionaires to get their commitment. The pledge doesn't ask for specific donations, nor does it track giving; rather, it asks that a pledge maker commit to giving away the majority of their wealth.
自那之後，蓋茨夫婦和巴菲特就一直在呼籲億萬富翁們做出自己的承諾。這一承諾並不要求有具體的捐贈，對捐贈行爲也不進行跟蹤；它只是要求承諾者允諾捐出自己的大部分財富。

That proposition at times has been a tough sell, the pledge founders said. 'People are super nice to us, but there is a certain awkwardness because it's a big decision,' Mr. Gates said in an interview this week. 'Sometimes the wife and the husband have never really talked through their priorities on the charity stuff.
捐贈承諾的發起者說，這個建議在執行起來有時會顯得很困難。本週蓋茨接受採訪時說，人們對我們非常友好，可還是有某種尷尬的感覺，因爲這是一個重大的決定。他說，有時候夫妻雙方從來沒有就慈善問題上應該優先考慮的事情進行過充分深入的討論。

Mr. Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in his Harvard University dorm before dropping out of college and working on the business full time in California, is one of the world's youngest billionaires, worth an estimated $6.9 billion, according to Forbes. Yet since his wealth is from his ownership stake a company that has yet to list on the stock market, much of that wealth is theoretical at this point.
在哈佛大學(Harvard University)的寢室裏創建了Facebook、而後輟學並在加州全心投入這份工作的扎克伯格是世界上最年輕的億萬富翁之一，據《福布斯》(Forbes)雜誌，他的資產價值估計爲69億美元。不過由於他的財富是來自在一家未上市公司中持有的控股權，因此這筆財富中的大部分目前來看還只是理論性的。

Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook and former Harvard roommate of Mr. Zuckerberg's, has also signed the pledge.
Facebook的聯合創始人、扎克伯格在哈佛大學的前室友莫斯科維茨(Dustin Moskovitz)也簽署了這一承諾。

Mr. Zuckerberg emerged as a major donor this year. In September, he made his first major charitable gift, promising on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' to give up to $100 million to public schools in Newark.
扎克伯格今年成爲了一名出手大方的捐贈者。他9月份時獻上了自己的頭一份慈善大禮，在《奧普拉脫口秀》(The Oprah Winfrey Show)中承諾向紐瓦克的公立學校捐贈至多1億美元。

Many of the pledge signors had already planned to disburse their wealth and most are already involved in philanthropy. It's unclear if the Giving Pledge has encouraged more giving.
許多承諾簽署人原本已在籌劃捐出他們的財產，多數人已經參與了慈善活動。尚不清楚“捐贈承諾”是否鼓勵了更多的捐贈行爲。

Overall, philanthropic giving has been hit hard by the weak economy. Donations in the U.S. fell 3.6% to $303.75 billion last year, down from $315 billion in 2008, according to Giving USA. In 2008, they were down 2%, Giving USA Foundation.
總體來看，慈善捐贈受到了經濟疲軟的嚴重打擊。據基金會Giving USA的統計，美國去年的捐贈規模減少了3.6%，至3037.5億美元，低於2008年的3150億美元。2008年時下滑了2%。

Investor and new addition to the pledge, Nicolas Berggruen, 48, said he decided to give away his fortune while he was alive so he could personally take responsibility for how his money is put to use.
48歲的投資者伯格魯恩(Nicolas Berggruen)是“捐贈承諾”的新加入者，他說他決定在活着的時候捐出自己的財產，這樣對於自己的錢將被如何使用他就能親自負起責任。

'Wealth is an advantage, but it also is frankly a responsibility,' he said in an interview.
他在一次採訪中說，財富是一種優勢，但老實說它也是一種責任。

After the initial Giving Pledge list came out, some critics decried it as a public-relations stunt, or the product of tax-breaks that are hurting the government's ability to offer critical services.
在最初的“捐贈承諾”名單出爐後，一些批評人士指責它是公關作秀，或是減稅的產物，認爲它將破壞政府提供關鍵服務的能力。

'The state has limits in to what it can and cannot do,' said Mr. Berggruen. 'Private enterprise can be faster and less bureaucratic than the state.'
伯格魯恩說，政府在某些能做以及某些不能爲之的方面存在侷限，私人企業比政府的行動更加迅速，也沒有那麼多官僚作風