Billionaires Open Their Wallets - Forbes.com

Billionaires Open Their Wallets - Forbes.com: "Hurricane Katrina
Billionaires Open Their Wallets
Allison Fass and Helen Coster, 09.14.05, 6:00 AM ET


American billionaires hold much of the wealth in the U.S. and also control many of its largest companies. As such, they are in a unique position to influence national giving much in the same way as celebrities and sports stars are.

But instead of making bold donations and speaking out publicly about their contributions to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, all but a rare few have chosen to shun the limelight. Among those who won't comment on their personal giving in face of this tragedy are Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRKA - news - people ), Larry Ellison of Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ), Jeff Bezos of Amazon (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ) and Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. "