Canva co-founder Cameron Adams and his wife, Lisa Miller, have joined a pledge taken by the world’s richest philanthropists to give most of their wealth to charity.
The couple announced on Tuesday they had joined The Giving Pledge, a mechanism for the very wealthy to donate to a range of charitable causes, founded by Warren Buffet, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife Melinda French Gates.
Adams, worth an estimated $6.81bn in 2024 according to the Australian Financial Review, and Miller promised to dedicate the majority of their money to tackling environmental issues.
“Nature nourishes us, sustains us, inspires us, and shapes how we live. But today, many of the ecosystems that support our lives are being destroyed — and our future depends on how we choose to save them,” Adams said in a statement.
“Lisa and I believe that with good fortune comes great responsibility. We recognise that the opportunities we have had in life place us in a position to give generously and act with purpose.”
According to its website, more than 240 of the world’s wealthiest philanthropists from 30 countries have joined The Giving Pledge since 2010, with just a handful of Australians among them.
Canva’s other co-founders, Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, who married in 2021, signed up to the pledge in the same year, saying that they had wanted to do “the most good we can do” with their online graphic design software platform, which was worth a reported $49bn by late 2024.
Adams will have more access to his almost $7bn fortune soon, the AFR has reported, which has largely been in Canva equity.
He and Miller had previously pledged to give “most” of their fortune away through their nature-focused investment venture the Wedgetail Foundation, of which Miller is founder and CEO.
Adams said their work through Wedgetail had given them confidence that environmental issues were “worth fighting for” and that they were placed to make a “unique contribution”.
“Through the Giving Pledge we are directing the majority of our wealth toward this, because the alternative – inaction on a dying planet – is unacceptable,” he said.
“We must not only halt nature’s decline but also begin its restoration.”
The Giving Pledge “focuses on” those with a net worth of at least US$1bn or those who would be billionaires if not for their philanthropy, according to its website.
Australian poker machine magnate Len Ainsworth took the pledge in 2017.
He said at the time: “As a private person, I prefer to minimise publicity of my philanthropic activities but at the same time realise that setting a positive example is the best way to encourage others to give back”.
