The billionaire founder of social network Facebook Inc. has agreed to give the majority of his wealth to charity, part of a broader group of rich entrepreneurs committing to philanthropy earlier in their lives.
社交网站Facebook Inc.的富豪创始人扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)已同意把他的多数财富捐给慈善事业。包括他在内，一群富裕创业家在人生的较早阶段做出了慈善承诺。

Mark Zuckerberg has signed onto the 'Giving Pledge,' which asks its signatories to commit publicly to give away the majority of their wealth.
扎克伯格已签署“捐赠誓言”(Giving Pledge)。誓言书要求签署人公开承诺捐出自己的大多数财富。

The 26-year-old is one of 16 billionaires new to the pledge, which now totals more than 50 donors. New names include AOL co-founder Steve Case, investor Carl Icahn and former junk-bond king Michael Milken.
26岁的扎克伯格是16位新加入的富豪之一，目前整个群体已经有50多人。新加入者还包括美国在线(AOL)创始人之一史蒂夫•凯斯(Steve Case)、投资家卡尔•伊坎(Carl Icahn)和曾经的垃圾债券大王麦克尔•米尔肯(Michael Milken)。

They join existing pledges made by wealthy individuals and families including Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, film director George Lucas and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
其他一些富裕个人和家族此前已经做出承诺，他们包括甲骨文(Oracle Corp.)创始人拉里•埃里森(Larry Ellison)、电影导演乔治•卢卡斯(George Lucas)和纽约市长迈克尔•布隆伯格(Michael Bloomberg)。

The Giving Pledge is an effort organized by software mogul Bill Gates and investor Warren Buffett to persuade the world's rich to boost their giving.
“捐赠誓言”是软件大亨比尔•盖茨(Bill Gates)和投资家沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)为劝说世界富人更慷慨地捐赠而发起的一场活动。

'I view this as a call to others who might in their thirties or forties use some of their creativity to get involved in philanthropy earlier in life,' Mr. Milken, 64, said of the pledge.
64岁的米尔肯说，在我看来，誓言书是呼吁其他年龄可能在三四十岁的人动用一定的创造力，在人生的较早阶段参与慈善事业。

Those pledging are part of a broader shift in philanthropy, in which successful business people -- often entrepreneurs -- are giving more of their money to charity far earlier than their predecessors. It was a trend that was helped along by Mr. Gates, who started his foundation while still leading Microsoft Corp.
这些人的承诺符合整个慈善事业的一种变化，即成功商界人士（常常都是创业家）比其前辈捐赠数额更大，时间也远远提前。盖茨在他掌管微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)的时候就已经成立自己的基金会，一定程度上促成了这样一种趋势。

Mr. Case, 52, and his wife Jean Case, 50, said they signed the pledge because they hoped it would help philanthropists learn from each other. 'It is less about what size of a check that you write and more about the outcome,' Mr. Case said.
52岁的凯斯及其50岁的妻子吉恩•凯斯(Jean Case)说，他们之所以签署誓言书，是因为他们希望这样有助于慈善家们相互学习。凯斯说，重要的不是支票的数额，而是结果。

Ms. Case said Internet entrepreneurs have a unique interest in philanthropy. 'The folks that helped bring AOL to life were out to change the world,' she said. 'It seems a natural thing that as they look at the role they want to play, they are giving back in big ways.'
吉恩•凯斯说，互联网创业家对慈善事业拥有独特的兴趣。她说，那些帮助美国在线起死回生的人们要改变世界去了；当他们即将发挥他们想发挥的作用时，他们是在大规模地回馈社会，这似乎是一件很自然的事情。

Messrs. Icahn and Zuckerberg weren't available to comment. In a video prepared by the Giving Pledge, Mr. Zuckerberg said, 'There's so much that needs to be done, it would be better to start now.'
记者未能联系到伊坎夫妇和扎克伯格置评。扎克伯格在“捐赠誓言”制作的一个视频里说，需要做的事情太多，最好是从现在就开始。

Starting last year, Mr. Gates, his wife Melinda Gates, Mr. Buffett and other wealthy individuals hosted a series of dinners for billionaires to discuss setting up the pledge. That led to an announcement in June of the pledge and its earliest signers.
从去年开始，盖茨、盖茨妻子梅琳达•盖茨(Melinda Gates)、巴菲特和其他富人主持一系列晚宴招待亿万富豪，讨论发起捐赠誓言的事情。讨论的结果是在今年6月份公布了誓言书及其最早的一批签署人。

Since then, Mr. Gates, Ms. Gates and Mr. Buffett have been calling on billionaires to get their commitment. The pledge doesn't ask for specific donations, nor does it track giving; rather, it asks that a pledge maker commit to giving away the majority of their wealth.
自那之后，盖茨夫妇和巴菲特就一直在呼吁亿万富翁们做出自己的承诺。这一承诺并不要求有具体的捐赠，对捐赠行为也不进行跟踪；它只是要求承诺者允诺捐出自己的大部分财富。

That proposition at times has been a tough sell, the pledge founders said. 'People are super nice to us, but there is a certain awkwardness because it's a big decision,' Mr. Gates said in an interview this week. 'Sometimes the wife and the husband have never really talked through their priorities on the charity stuff.
捐赠承诺的发起者说，这个建议在执行起来有时会显得很困难。本周盖茨接受采访时说，人们对我们非常友好，可还是有某种尴尬的感觉，因为这是一个重大的决定。他说，有时候夫妻双方从来没有就慈善问题上应该优先考虑的事情进行过充分深入的讨论。

Mr. Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in his Harvard University dorm before dropping out of college and working on the business full time in California, is one of the world's youngest billionaires, worth an estimated $6.9 billion, according to Forbes. Yet since his wealth is from his ownership stake a company that has yet to list on the stock market, much of that wealth is theoretical at this point.
在哈佛大学(Harvard University)的寝室里创建了Facebook、而后辍学并在加州全心投入这份工作的扎克伯格是世界上最年轻的亿万富翁之一，据《福布斯》(Forbes)杂志，他的资产价值估计为69亿美元。不过由于他的财富是来自在一家未上市公司中持有的控股权，因此这笔财富中的大部分目前来看还只是理论性的。

Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook and former Harvard roommate of Mr. Zuckerberg's, has also signed the pledge.
Facebook的联合创始人、扎克伯格在哈佛大学的前室友莫斯科维茨(Dustin Moskovitz)也签署了这一承诺。

Mr. Zuckerberg emerged as a major donor this year. In September, he made his first major charitable gift, promising on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' to give up to $100 million to public schools in Newark.
扎克伯格今年成为了一名出手大方的捐赠者。他9月份时献上了自己的头一份慈善大礼，在《奥普拉脱口秀》(The Oprah Winfrey Show)中承诺向纽瓦克的公立学校捐赠至多1亿美元。

Many of the pledge signors had already planned to disburse their wealth and most are already involved in philanthropy. It's unclear if the Giving Pledge has encouraged more giving.
许多承诺签署人原本已在筹划捐出他们的财产，多数人已经参与了慈善活动。尚不清楚“捐赠承诺”是否鼓励了更多的捐赠行为。

Overall, philanthropic giving has been hit hard by the weak economy. Donations in the U.S. fell 3.6% to $303.75 billion last year, down from $315 billion in 2008, according to Giving USA. In 2008, they were down 2%, Giving USA Foundation.
总体来看，慈善捐赠受到了经济疲软的严重打击。据基金会Giving USA的统计，美国去年的捐赠规模减少了3.6%，至3037.5亿美元，低于2008年的3150亿美元。2008年时下滑了2%。

Investor and new addition to the pledge, Nicolas Berggruen, 48, said he decided to give away his fortune while he was alive so he could personally take responsibility for how his money is put to use.
48岁的投资者伯格鲁恩(Nicolas Berggruen)是“捐赠承诺”的新加入者，他说他决定在活着的时候捐出自己的财产，这样对于自己的钱将被如何使用他就能亲自负起责任。

'Wealth is an advantage, but it also is frankly a responsibility,' he said in an interview.
他在一次采访中说，财富是一种优势，但老实说它也是一种责任。

After the initial Giving Pledge list came out, some critics decried it as a public-relations stunt, or the product of tax-breaks that are hurting the government's ability to offer critical services.
在最初的“捐赠承诺”名单出炉后，一些批评人士指责它是公关作秀，或是减税的产物，认为它将破坏政府提供关键服务的能力。

'The state has limits in to what it can and cannot do,' said Mr. Berggruen. 'Private enterprise can be faster and less bureaucratic than the state.'
伯格鲁恩说，政府在某些能做以及某些不能为之的方面存在局限，私人企业比政府的行动更加迅速，也没有那么多官僚作风。