GIVING PLEDGE

We are honored and humbled to join the hundreds of individuals and families who have pledged to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.

Both of us come from modest, middle-class backgrounds. Emily’s grandparents left China for Taiwan during the Civil War of 1949. Knowing that education paved the path to success, they lived frugally in order to afford tuition for their children to study abroad. Emily’s parents, David and Ingher Wei, attended graduate school in the United States and eventually settled in Canada.

Mitch’s parents Norman and Ruth were the children of immigrants. His father, Norman Rales, grew up in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in New York City during the Great Depression. A self-made businessman, Norman never received his high school diploma, but through hard work and perseverance forged a successful building supply business while Ruth raised their four boys. She and Norman recognized the importance of philanthropy early on and took pride in their reputation as champions of the underdog, leaving their entire estate to a foundation to support education and health for youth from low-income communities.

Mitch and his brother Steven founded Danaher Corporation in 1984. Its success has been well documented by business analysts who point to a variety of strategic innovations, including the operating model and business system that the brothers first conceived more than thirty years ago. But one thing is never mentioned: luck. Jim Collins, the acclaimed author of best-selling books on business management and sustainability, once asked Mitch, “What’s your return on luck?” The question challenged Mitch to devise a way to pay it forward through philanthropy.

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to reallocate our wealth in order to make the world a better place. To date we have given more than two billion dollars to support our two main philanthropic causes: the arts and education. We believe the arts not only enrich our lives but are essential to promoting understanding in our society. And the value of education, instilled in us by the generations before us, continues to be one of the most important priorities that we feel compelled to champion.

At the time of our deaths, virtually all of our estate will have been given away or will be designated to be given away through our foundations. We hope to inspire future philanthropists to do the same.