Clinton project gets $7.3 billion in aid

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced his global initiative to fight poverty, disease and conflict has received $7.3 billion in pledges.

The money came from more than 400 people "and the value, my staff swears, is $7.3 billion," Clinton said Friday.

One of the pledges came from British entrepreneur Richard Branson, who promised to invest $3 billion of his personal profits from his airlines and a rail company in renewable energy over the next decade, The New York Times reports.

Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who Clinton said "barely looked old enough to shave," promised to give free advertising on their search engine to any nonprofit group committed to the Clinton Global Initiative.

The initiative, started a year ago, brings together global and business leaders and non-profit organizations to devise and implement innovative solutions to pressing challenges such as energy and climate change, global health, poverty and religious and ethnic conflict.