I investigate the rates of criminal misconduct amongst people who have taken The Giving Pledge (roughly: ~200 [non-EA] billionaires who have pledged to give most of their money to charity). I find that rates are fairly high: 25% of signatories have been accused of financial misconduct, and 10% convicted[1] 4% of signatories have spent at least one day in prison Overall, 41% of signatories have had at least one allegation of substantial misconduct (financial, sexual, or otherwise) I estimate that Giving Pledgers are not less likely, and possibly more likely, to commit financial crimes than YCombinator entrepreneurs. I am unable to find evidence of The Giving Pledge doing anything to limit the risk of criminal behavior amongst its members. I conclude that the rate of criminal behavior amongst major philanthropists is high, which means that we should not expect altruism to substantially lower the risks compared to that of [...] ---Outline:(01:22) Methodology(02:01) How well do convictions correspond with immoral behavior?(03:56) Some Representative Cases(04:08) Are Giving Pledge signatories less likely to commit financial crimes?(06:05) Giving Pledge's Response to Criminal Behavior(07:08) PR Impacts(08:15) Implications for EAThe original text contained 9 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. ---
First published:
January 22nd, 2024

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/d8nW46LrTkCWdjiYd/rates-of-criminality-amongst-giving-pledge-signatories
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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.