Gensheng Niu
Small victories are based on wisdom, great victories are based on virtue; with the increase of wealth, comes an increase in responsibility; Helping people lets you walk the way of kindness; Let the benefactor be thankful for the beneficiary; If everyone does good, nothing will be bad; One’s happiness is directly correlated to how many people love you."
Pledge letter
尊敬的沃伦 • 巴菲特先生及比尔 • 盖茨夫妇：
非常荣幸收到“捐赠誓言”的邀请，感谢诸位垂青，在此致以诚挚的问候。谈到“捐赠誓言”，恰好与我的理念不谋而合，我非常愿意加入其中。
早在 2004年底，我便发起成立了“老牛基金会”，随后携家人将所持蒙牛乳业的全部股份及大部分红利捐出，开展公益慈善事业；致力于探索一条“中国式现代慈善家族基金会”发展之路；致力于通过“推动慈善立法、人才培养、国际交流”、“设立并支持研究机构”及“创办慈善论坛“等项目活动促进公益慈善行业整体发展；致力于依托“环境保护”和“文化教育”两大领域，探索“公益全球化、项目国际化”的慈善之路。
自 2006 年以来，我陆续辞去蒙牛集团总裁、董事长，从企业家全身心转为慈善家；在我的影响下，家族成员全部投身公益慈善事业；子女发起成立“老牛兄妹公益基金会”，进一步扩展家族慈善事业。
“穷则独善其身，达则兼济天下”，这一中华民族传承千年的慈善理念，给了我很大的鼓舞和启示。于是，我便以：前半生经商，通过渡己来渡人；后半生行善，通过渡人来渡己。我认为，做生意需要年富力强，做公益也不能“七老八十”，于是适时淡出蒙牛，让出这个舞台，开启我 50岁之后的人生规划。
小胜凭智，大胜靠德；财富越多,责任越大；予人帮扶，于己修善；倡导施者感恩受者；人人行善，则事无不善；快乐大小看爱你人数多少。牛氏家族将携老牛基金会以“渡人渡己，心怀感恩；树人树木，责任天下”为宗旨，以“教育立民族之本、环境立生存之本、公益立社会之本”为使命，以环境保护、文化教育及行业推动为主要公益方向，为人类的健康生活和平等发展做出贡献，“传承百年，守护未来”。
再次感谢各位的邀请，不胜荣幸！
老牛基金会创始人 荣誉会长
Distinguished Mr. Buffett, Mr. and Mrs. Gates
It was my great honor to receive your invitation to join the Giving Pledge; thank you for your consideration. I want to hereby send my sincere regards. The idea of the Giving Pledge is perfectly aligned with my philosophy and I would be delighted to join it.
I founded the Lao Niu Foundation in late 2004. Together with my family, I donated all my stock holdings in Mengniu Dairy and the majority of dividends for charitable purposes. We were committed to experimenting with a contemporary Chinese-style approach to charity with a family foundation and to advancing the charitable and philanthropic sector by promoting charity legislation, training talent and facilitating international exchange, as well as creating and supporting research institutions and organizing charity forums, etc. With a focus on environmental protection, culture and education, we set off on a quest towards globalized charity and international programming.
After 2006, I resigned as chairman and president of Mengniu Group and transformed myself fully from an entrepreneur to philanthropist. Under my influence, members of my family also became engaged in charity and philanthropy. My son and daughter co-founded the Lao Niu Brother and Sister Foundation, which further expanded our family’s philanthropic footprint.
“In poverty, sustain yourself. In prosperity, help others”. This time-honored philanthropic principle, which has been passed down through generations in China, has given me great motivation and inspiration. As such, I have devoted my first half of life to business, with the aim of lifting myself up in order to help others. Now I devote the second half to philanthropy, with the aim of helping others in order to live up to this principle. While I believe one needs to be in the prime of life to do business, I do not believe one needs to wait till he/she is old to engage in philanthropy. For this reason, I think I pulled myself away from Mengniu at the right time. I may have left the stage of business, but I have entered a new chapter and embarked on a new journey of life after 50.
Small victories are based on wisdom, great victories are based on virtue; with the increase of wealth, comes an increase in responsibility; Helping people lets you walk the way of kindness; Let the benefactor be thankful for the beneficiary; If everyone does good, nothing will be bad; One’s happiness is directly correlated to how many people love you. The Niu family and the Lao Niu Foundation are guided by the vision of “being grateful and improving ourselves by helping others; showing a sense of global responsibility by nurturing people and protecting nature” and by the mission to “promote education for the nation, protect the environment for survival and practice philanthropy for society”. With a primary charitable focus on environmental protection, culture and education, and the advancement of the philanthropic sector, the Lao Niu Foundation is committed to creating a healthy and equitable environment for mankind and to acting as a guardian of the future.
I want to thank you again for your invitation. I am greatly honored.
Founder and Honorary president of Lao Niu Foundation
