Bill Gates away half of its value, as detailed in "The Power of Half". Gates and his wife invited Joan Salwen to Seattle to speak about what the family had done, and on December 9, 2010, Bill and Melinda Gates, and investor Warren Buffett signed a commitment they called the "Giving Pledge." The pledge is a commitment by all three to donate at least half of their wealth over the course of time to charity. Gates has also provided personal donations to educational institutions. In 1999, Gates donated $20 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the construction of a
USS Thomas S. Gates After visiting Palma, Majorca (20–27 June) and Toulon, France (30 June-15 July), where she underwent an Intermediate Maintenance Availability (IMAV), "Thomas S. Gates" transited to the eastern Mediterranean (15–21 July); following a port visit to Izmir, Turkey (21–23 July), "Thomas S. Gates" participated in Exercise Demon Jazz 89 (24–29 July). She then visited Istanbul, Turkey (31 July-2 August), where she embarked VADM Paul Ilg, Deputy Commander in Chief U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, and then stood into the Black Sea (3–4 August). Accompanied by the guided missile frigate , "Thomas S. Gates" visited Sevastopol, USSR, from 4–8 August, and then returned