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A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; donating their time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes. The term may apply to any volunteer or to anyone who makes a donation, but the label is most often applied to those who donate large sums of money or who make a major impact through their volunteering, such as a trustee who manages a philanthropic organization or one who establishes and funds a foundation. [1]
A philanthropist may not always find universal approval for their deeds. [2] Common accusations include supporting an unworthy cause (such as funding art instead of fighting world hunger) or having selfish motivation at heart (such as avoiding taxes or attaining personal fame). A philanthropist is also someone who cares for someone else's needs instead of their own.
MrBeast - Youtuber - Comedian - given, donated at least 6 million dollar - founder of Team Trees and Team Seas
The following table orders the greatest philanthropists by the estimated amount given to charity, corresponding to USD.
Name | Amount given | Cause |
---|---|---|
Jamsetji Tata | $102.4 billion [24] | Education, healthcare |
Bill Gates | $79 billion [59] | Healthcare, extreme poverty, education, access to information technology |
Warren Buffett | $32.1 billion [60] | Healthcare, education, AIDS-prevention, sanitation |
George Soros | $32 billion [61] | Healthcare, anti-fascist publications, human rights, economic, legal, and social reform |
Azim Premji | $21 billion [62] | Education, healthcare |
MacKenzie Scott | $14 billion [63] | Racial equality, LGBTQ+ equality, functional democracy, and climate change [64] |
Michael Bloomberg | $12.7 billion[ citation needed ] | Environment, public health, arts, government innovation and education |
Li Ka-shing | $10.7 billion[ citation needed ] | Education, healthcare |
Andrew Carnegie | $9.5 billion[ citation needed ] | Libraries, education, peace |
Elon Musk | $7.6 billion [65] | Science education, COVID-19 relief, renewable energy |
Chuck Feeney | $6.8 billion[ citation needed ] | Healthcare, youth, aging, poverty, human rights |
Alisher Usmanov | $5.8 billion [66] [67] | Art, science, sport, healthcare |
The Sainsbury family | $5 billion [66] [67] | Art, education, human rights, youth, aging |
Christopher Hohn | $4.5 billion [68] | Youth, poverty, education |
Carlos Slim Helu | $4.2 billion [68] | Arts, education, healthcare, sports, downtown restoration |
Alwaleed Philanthropies | $4 billion [69] | Alwaleed Philanthropies collaborates with a range of philanthropic, government and educational organizations to combat poverty, empower women and youth, develop communities, provide disaster relief and create cultural understanding through education. |
The Weston family | $2.3 billion [66] [67] | Innovations, healthcare, aging, environment |
Phil Knight | $2 billion [70] | Education, healthcare, intercollegiate athletics |
James E. Stowers | $2 billion [71] | Healthcare |
Hansjoerg Wyss | $1.9 billion [68] | Climate change, poverty |
Howard Hughes | $1.56 billion[ citation needed ] | Healthcare |
Ted Turner | $1 billion[ citation needed ] | United Nations Foundation |
Stephan Schmidheiny | $1.5 billion [68] | Environment, sustainable development |
Vitalik Buterin | $1 billion [56] | Donated $1 billion worth of the cryptocurrencies Shiba Inu and Ether to a COVID-19 relief fund in India. |
T. Boone Pickens | $500 Million [56] | Donated $500 million for education. |
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the second largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $69 billion in assets as of 2020. On his 43rd birthday, Bill Gates gave the foundation $1 billion. The primary stated goals of the foundation are to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty across the world, and to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology in the U.S. Key individuals of the foundation include Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Warren Buffett, chief executive officer Mark Suzman, and Michael Larson.
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material gain; and with government endeavors that are public initiatives for public good, such as those that focus on the provision of public services. A person who practices philanthropy is a philanthropist.
David John Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, is a British politician, businessman and philanthropist. From 1992 to 1997, he served as chairman of Sainsbury's, the supermarket chain established by his great grandfather John James Sainsbury in 1869.
Azim Hashim Premji is an Indian businessman and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as the Czar of the Indian IT Industry. He was responsible for guiding Wipro through four decades of diversification and growth, to finally emerge as one of the global leaders in the software industry. In 2010, he was voted among the 20 most powerful men in the world by Asiaweek. He has twice been listed among the 100 most influential people by Time magazine, once in 2004 and more recently in 2011. For years, he has been regularly listed one among The 500 Most Influential Muslims. He also serves as the Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Bangalore. Premji was awarded Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, by the Government of India.
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being.
The Atlantic Philanthropies (AP) was a private foundation created in 1982 by American businessman Chuck Feeney. The Atlantic Philanthropies focused its giving on health, social, and politically left-leaning public policy causes in Australia, Bermuda, Ireland, South Africa, the United States and Vietnam. It was among the largest foreign charitable donors in each of the countries in which it operated, and was the single largest funder of programs that encouraged the civic engagement of older people and of comprehensive immigration reform in the United States. With the single largest advocacy grant ever made by a foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies committed $27 million to win passage of the Affordable Care Act in the United States. About half of the Atlantic Philanthropies' grants were made in donations that allow lobbying.
Philanthrocapitalism or philanthropic capitalism is a way of doing philanthropy, which mirrors the way that business is done in the for-profit world. It may involve venture philanthropy that actively invests in social programs to pursue specific philanthropic goals that would yield return on investment over the long term, or in a more passive form whereby "social investors" benefit from investing in socially-responsible programs.
Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman Rockefeller was an American abolitionist, philanthropist, school teacher, and prominent member of the Rockefeller family. Her husband was Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller. Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial were named for her.
Ruth Lilly was an American philanthropist, the last surviving great-grandchild of Eli Lilly, founder of the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical firm, and heir to the Lilly family fortune. A lifelong resident of Indianapolis, Indiana, Ruth Lilly is estimated to have given away nearly $800 million of her inheritance during her lifetime, mostly in support of the arts, education, health, and environmental causes in Indianapolis and in Indiana.
A foundation in the United States is a type of charitable organization. However, the Internal Revenue Code distinguishes between private foundations and public charities. Private foundations have more restrictions and fewer tax benefits than public charities like community foundations.
Johann Georg Wyss known as Hansjörg Wyss is a Swiss billionaire businessman and donor to politically liberal and environmental causes in the United States. He is the founder and the former president and chairman of Synthes Holding AG, a medical device manufacturer. His Wyss Foundation has more than $2 billion in assets. As of 2023, Wyss had a net worth of US$4.7 billion, according to Forbes. Having donated hundreds of millions of dollars to environmental causes, he has more recently increased his donations to groups promoting progressive causes. He is currently the co-owner of Premier League football club Chelsea.
Bestway Group Limited is a British conglomerate founded by Sir Anwar Pervez in 1976. The group operates in the United Kingdom and Pakistan, and is currently based in London.
MacKenzie Scott is an American novelist and philanthropist. As of January 2024, she has a net worth of US$40.6 billion, owning a 4% stake in Amazon, the company her then-husband, Jeff Bezos, founded. As such, Scott is the third-wealthiest woman in the United States and the 47th-wealthiest individual in the world. Scott was named the world's most powerful woman by Forbes in 2021 and one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2020.
Philanthropy in the United States is the practice of voluntary, charitable giving by individuals, corporations and foundations to benefit important social needs. Its long history dates back to the early colonial period, when Puritans founded Harvard College and other institutions. Philanthropy has been a major source of funding for various sectors, such as religion, higher education, health care, and the arts. Philanthropy has also been influenced by different social movements, such as abolitionism, women’s rights, civil rights, and environmentalism. Some of the most prominent philanthropists in American history include George Peabody, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Herbert Hoover, and Bill Gates.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) is a donor-advised community foundation serving the Silicon Valley region. It is the largest charitable foundation in Silicon Valley.
Founders Pledge is a London-based charitable initiative, where entrepreneurs commit to donate a portion of their personal proceeds to charity when they sell their business. Inspired by effective altruism, the mission of Founders Pledge is to "empower entrepreneurs to do immense good".
Chen Yidan, also known as Charles Chen, is a Chinese internet entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Tencent, founder of the Chen Yidan Charity Foundation, and founder of the Yidan Prize Foundation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the international and domestic economies. Thus, many organizations, private individuals, religious institutions and governments have created different charitable drives, concerts and other events to lessen the economic impact felt.
Pat Walker was an American philanthropist and co-founder of the Walker Charitable Foundation. She is known for her charitable donations to the University of Arkansas and medical institutions such as Arkansas Children's Hospital. She served as a lifetime board member for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and was a member of SpringCreek Fellowship of Springdale. In 2016, Pat Walker was inducted into the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame.
In 2017, the Open Society Foundations announced that Soros had transferred $18 billion of his fortune towards funding the future work of the Foundations, bringing his total giving to the Foundations since 1984 to over $32 billion