Heavyweight billionaires in coalition list.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
An association of world’s billionaires and powerful business magnets are teaming up to launch a multi-million dollar clean energy fund called the ‘Breakthrough Energy Coalition’, at the climate change summit in Paris, on Monday.
The team aims to invest in technologies that could help solve problems associated with climate change and other clean tech initiatives. Areas of investment include electricity generation and storage; transportation; industrial use; agriculture; and energy system efficiency.
The coalition includes Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Indian business tycoons Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata and many others.
According to Bill Gates, the Breakthrough Energy Coalition is a global conglomerate of private investors who will support companies that convert innovative clean-energy ideas into working models that can be implemented in the marketplace.
In his official blog Bill Gates wrote on Monday that, “I’m in Paris today with several world leaders for a big announcement on energy and climate change. It is deeply moving to be in this city just two weeks after the horrific attacks here, and I am inspired by the way the French people have persevered in such a difficult time.”
He also added, “The renewable technologies we have today, like wind and solar, have made a lot of progress and could be one path to a zero-carbon energy future. But given the scale of the challenge, we need to be exploring many different paths—and that means we also need to invent new approaches. Private companies will ultimately develop these energy breakthroughs, but their work will rely on the kind of basic research that only governments can fund. Both have a role to play.
“Our primary goal with the Coalition is as much to accelerate progress on clean energy as it is to make a profit,” he concluded.
Mark Zuckerberg announced in a Facebook post that, “Priscilla and I are joining Bill Gates in launching the Breakthrough Energy Coalition to invest in new clean energy technologies.”
He added: “The Breakthrough Energy Coalition will invest in ideas that have the potential to transform the way we all produce and consume energy. As leaders prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference: in Paris this week, we hope this will encourage more partners to make innovation a priority in the fight against climate change.”
Another initiative by the name Mission Innovation will also be launched during the Paris climate summit in which 20 countries, including India and the US will extend the commitment to invest in research on clean energy.
List of the founding members of the Breakthrough Energy Coalition:
Mukesh Ambani
Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited
India
John Arnold
Co-chair, Laura and John Arnold Foundation
United States
Marc Benioff
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Salesforce.com
United States
Jeff Bezos
Founder and CEO, Amazon
United States
HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Alwaleed Philanthropies
Saudi Arabia
Richard Branson
Founder, Virgin Group
United Kingdom
Ray Dalio
Founder, Bridgewater Associates
United States
Aliko Dangote
Founder and Chief Executive, Dangote Group
Nigeria
John Doerr
General Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
United States
Bill Gates
Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
United States
Reid Hoffman
Founder, LinkedIn and Partner, Greylock
United States
Chris Hohn
Founder, The Children’s Investment Fund
United Kingdom
Vinod Khosla
Founder, Khosla Ventures
United States
Jack Ma
Executive Chairman, Alibaba Group
China
Patrice Motsepe
Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals (ARM)
South Africa
Xavier Niel
Founder, Iliad Group
France
Hasso Plattner
Co-founder and Chairman, SAP
Germany
Julian Robertson
Founder and Chairman, Tiger Management
United States
Neil Shen
Founding Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital China
China
Nat Simons and Laura Baxter-Simons
Co-founders, Prelude Ventures
United States
Masayoshi Son
Founder, Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group Corp.
Japan
George Soros
Chairman, Soros Fund Management LLC
United States
Tom Steyer
Businessman, Philanthropist, and President, NextGen Climate
United States
Ratan Tata
Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons
India
Meg Whitman
CEO, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
United States
Ms. Zhang Xin and Mr. Pan Shiyi
Co-founder and CEO, SOHO China
Chairman, SOHO China
China
Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Facebook
Pediatrician and CEO, The Primary School
United States
University of California
Office of the Chief Investment Officer
United States.
1 Comment
So many different industry leaders are represtented on this list, and that is great!