Warren Buffett
Net Worth: $88.8 billion
Donations: $42.8 billion
Giving Focus: health, poverty alleviation
The world-famous investor once set himself the goal of a lifetime – to donate 99% of his fortune to charity. Notably, he is quite close to accomplishing this aim as the number of his donations has exceeded $40 billion, which is almost half of all his money. Much of it he donates to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation whose main priority is to fight poverty and develop health care. Apart from donations, he gave his shares worth billions of dollars to a fund created by his children and his late wife.
Bill and Melinda Gates
Net Worth: $120.7 billion
Donations: $29.8 billion
Giving Focus: health, poverty alleviation
The idea of creating their own charitable foundation came to the couple more than twenty years ago. Nowadays, annual donations to their foundation amount to about $5 billion in grants from various sources. Last year, the foundation also received donations to finance research aimed at combating the coronavirus infection. The expenditure is likely to total about $1.75 billion annually.
George Soros
Net Worth: $8.6 billion
Donations: $16.8 billion
Giving Focus: health, human rights, education, anti-discrimination
The Open Society Foundation is well-known around the world. It operates in one hundred and twenty states. Its main purpose is to maintain and strengthen democracy, as well as to protect the rights of voters. Last year alone, the foundation spent more than $140 million for these purposes. The organization's annual donations amount to $1.2 billion. The coronavirus pandemic also affected the foundation’s spending. The organization intends to transfer $37 million to provide medical care for illegal immigrants. After the scandal and the following protests fueled by the murder of George Floyd, the foundation made huge donations worth $220 million to support African American citizens.
Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth: $54.9 billion
Donations: $11.1 billion
Giving Focus: climate change, health
Bloomberg’s biggest donations are made to fight climate change, improve health care, and prevent illegal arms trafficking. He actively supports the organizations which advocate against the use of tobacco products. He spent $1 billion last year alone on this cause. A hefty sum of $330 million was also donated to the program related to countering the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds were spent on medical developments as well as payments to those medical workers who were at the forefront in the fight against the coronavirus. The billionaire plans to fund $100 million in scholarships for medical students over the next four years.
Charles "Chuck" Feeney
Net worth: unknown
Donations: $8 billion
Giving focus: youth policy, science, human rights
The list of the biggest givers would be incomplete without a truly remarkable man - Charles Feeney. Once he decided to step on a philanthropic path by giving away all his money. Importantly, he has reached his lifetime goal. In 1960, he established the retail chain, DutyFreeShoppers, which brought huge yield. Thus, he was able to donate large sums anonymously thanks to that company. Being quite an old person, he announced that he would give away his entire multi-billion-dollar fortune to set an example. Few people appreciated his doing while the majority considered him crazy. Almost half of Feeney's donations were spent on education. Last year, his Atlantic Philanthropies foundation ceased to exist after giving away everything it had accumulated.
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