Record $261 Million Conservation Gift Pledged By Intel Co-Founder

Compiled ByGlenn Hasek Washington-based Conservation International (CI) announced that Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore and his wife have pledged up to $261 million to the organization. The donation is considered the largest gift ever to a private conservation group. CI's goal is to stop species extinctions in biodiversity hotspots and to protect large areas of major tropical wilderness areas. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will provide a series of grants totaling up to $261 million over 10 years. With an alliance of conservation partners, CI hopes to secure $1.5 billion in private investments over the next 10 years, and leverage another $4.5 billion from the public sector. "The rate of species loss and habitat destruction demands immediate action," says Gordon Moore, who was CEO at Intel from 1975 to 1987 and chairman until 1997. The Moore Foundation grants will be contingent upon CI accomplishing agreed upon outcomes as the initiative unfolds. The preservation effort will focus on 25 biodiversity hotspots in more than 40 countries.