Wall St Philanthropist

A young American computer scientist is making a fortune in Wall Street – and giving half of it away.

Jason Trigg, aged 25, earns an estimated $100,000 a year and donates 50 per cent of his wages to charity.

Philanthropist Trigg works for a high-frequency trading firm, but he still lives with three flatmates and walks to work. He gives half of his salary to the Against Malaria Foundation.

Trigg doesn’t feel in any way deprived. “I wouldn’t know how to spend a large amount of money,” he says. “A lot of people, they want to make a difference and end up in the Peace Corps and in the developing world without running water. But I can donate some of my time in the office and make more of a difference.”

Trigg was apparently inspired by controversial philosopher Peter Singer, who argued: “If it is within our power to prevent something bad from happening, without sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it.”