B.R.Shetty & Shamseer Vayalil set to donate 50% of their wealth to Gates & Buffet foundations

Three high-profile UAE-based businessmen are among 14 philanthropists who have joined the Giving Pledge created by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet, which invites the world’s wealthiest philanthropists to commit more than half their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetimes or in their wills. The philanthropists include Badr Jafr, the CEO of the UAE-based Crescent Enterprises and president of Crescent Petroleum, as well as NMC Health and UAE Exchange founder BR Shetty and VPS Healthcare founder and managing director Shamseer Vayalil. “Recognising the rapid generation shifts occurring in developing markets, including the Middle East, my philanthropic activities are built around this urgency to promote a culture of strategic high-impact philanthropy as an imperative for private resources to serve the public good,” Badr Jafar wrote in his pledge letter. BR Shetty, for his part, said that “it is a crime when you are able to help others and choose not to.” Lastly, Shamseer Vayalil noted that he believes “success means having created something that can make a positive and sustainable difference in the lives of people.” Previous philanthropists from the Gulf region who have joined the pledge include GEMS Education founders Sunny & Sherly Varkey, Sobha Group’s PNC & Sobha Menon, Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi, and Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who signed up in 2015.