Pleasanton Charity to Receive Blackhawk Billionaire's Fortune

David Duffield is a bit of a late bloomer. He started his first software company at 47. After a legal battle, he sold the company, PeopleSoft, to Oracle for $10.7 billion in 2005. Not content to simply play endless rounds of golf, he started a new company at 65. Workday is another success, going public in 2012. Duffield remains Chairman of the company.

Forbes pegs Duffield’s net worth on Mar. 4, 2015 at $7 billion. According to Forbes, “Duffield says he plans to leave his fortune to his animal charity, Maddie’s Fund, named after his beloved schnauzer, not his 10 children.”

Maddie’s Fund is headquartered in Pleasanton.

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The magazine says there are now 1,826 billionaires worldwide with a combined net worth of $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion a year ago.

There aren’t any surprises at the top of the Americans on the billionaire heap: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and Oracle’s Larry Ellison are the leaders.

Forbes, which has been compiling the list since 1986, says the rankings show entrepreneurship is alive and well: 1,191 members of the list are self-made billionaires, while only 230 inherited their fortunes.

--Deb Belt (Patch Staff) contributed to this story