Kinders Pledge 95% of $11B Fortune

Nancy and Rich Kinder, Houston’s wealthiest couple with a combined net worth of roughly $11.2–11.3 billion, have pledged to donate 95% of their fortune—about $10–11 billion—to local charities through the Kinder Foundation. They announced the pledge as lead funders of an $18.5 million expansion of Emancipation Park in the Third Ward that will add a performance stage and a renovated cultural center. The Kinders founded the Kinder Foundation in 1997 and signed the Giving Pledge in 2011; their philanthropy focuses on urban green space, education, the arts, medical research and other quality-of-life projects across Houston. Their past giving has supported Emancipation Park, Discovery Green, the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas Children’s Hospital and Rice University. Reports say about $550 million will be reserved for their children and grandchildren, and the Kinders say the pledge reflects a desire to give back to the city that shaped them.