KEY POINTS:
Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary and former head of Goldman Sachs, is believed to be planning to give most of his fortune to charity - up to US$800 million ($1.15 billion).
He would be following in the footsteps of a string of wealthy businessmen, including Microsoft's founder Bill Gates and investment guru Warren Buffett, who have in the past year announced plans to donate most of their wealth to good causes.
Paulson, who is a Christian Scientist, set himself up to join the ranks of the world's most generous philanthropists last year, when he donated US$100 million of Goldman Sachs stock to an environmental charity.
However a report in a British newspaper says he is now believed to be making plans to donate the rest of his fortune over the coming years.
Last year saw a record US$35 billion of philanthropic donations from America's most wealthy. Buffett pledged to donate 85 per cent of his Berkshire Hathaway stock - worth around US$40 billion - to good causes.
Paulson's move comes only a few months after Sandy Weill, a former head of one of Goldman's rivals, Citigroup, also pledged to donate his US$1.4 billion fortune to charity, saying it was a "deal with God".
Paulson has been a long-term supporter of environmental causes, setting up his own charity more than 20 years ago.
- INDEPENDENT
