America’s superwealthy are on a record-breaking giving streak: Five people donated more than $1 billion last year, the first time so many have crossed that threshold in the Chronicle’s 20 years of tracking who gives the most to charity.
The Chronicle’s 20th annual ranking of America’s biggest donors was topped by Michael Bloomberg and followed by the hotel magnate Barron Hilton, then Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, and his wife, Wendy. The top five on the list each gave more than $1 billion to charity last year.
All signs suggest that a growing sense of urgency about the problems of the world are prompting America’s richest to donate more now to support causes that once got little of their attention. They are reacting to mounting pressure to close the inequality gap, and they’re giving to fight climate change and homelessness and to promote social justice.
Michael Bloomberg topped the Philanthropy 50 list, which is based on cumulative giving over the past year, by donating $3.3 billion.
The biggest portion of that money was $1.8 billion to fulfill a commitment he made to ensure that students at this alma mater, Johns Hopkins, would not have to take out loans and that the institution could admit anybody, regardless of their ability to pay.
Bloomberg has appeared on the list 14 other times and has contributed a total of $9.5 billion in his lifetime. Even though he is ratcheting up his spending on his presidential campaign, the sums he has given to charity are likely to be far higher than even the $1 billion he has hinted he might be willing to spend on politics this year. He has vowed to give away most of his fortune while he is alive or leave it to his foundation, and he has a long way to go: He is worth more than $60 billion, according to Forbes.
Bloomberg was followed by:
- Barron Hilton, the hotel mogul who died last year and left $2.4 billion to the foundation created by his father, Conrad Hilton.
- Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, and his wife, Wendy, who donated $1.3 billion, including support for a new effort to groom the next generation of public-service leaders.
- Walmart heir Jim Walton, who contributed $1.2 billion to an array of causes, including the arts, education, and parks and recreation.
- The late businessman Thomas Lord, whose $1 billion-plus gift will be split among foundations that support the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, and the Cleveland Clinic.
The combined contributions of these five people come to $9.3 billion. That is more than the total giving of all donors on the 2018 list.
What’s striking about last year’s giving is the share of wealth going to philanthropy.
According to a Chronicle analysis of giving by individuals who appear on both the Philanthropy 50 and the Forbes 400 ranking of America’s richest people, donors on both lists gave away 4.42 percent of their wealth, on average, in 2019. That is much higher than the average for the previous five years, which was just 2.59 percent.
Even so, only 21 of the donors on the Chronicle’s list are among the 400 wealthiest, a proportion that has not changed much over the years.
Among the notable donors on this year’s Philanthropy 50:
- Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook chief operating officer, was the highest-ranking woman on the list who made her own fortune. She donated $128 million to her foundation and her donor-advised fund, through which she supports gender equality, Planned Parenthood, and organizations that promote education and fight poverty. Her boss, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, ranked No. 20, with $109.9 million.
- Orlando Bravo, a financier born in Puerto Rico, directed $100 million to his foundation. Much of the foundation’s work is focused on Puerto Rico, where few wealthy philanthropists channel their largess. His philanthropy promotes entrepreneurship, and the company he owns is providing mentors to help Puerto Ricans start businesses.
- Schmidt is not the only one involved with Google to make the list. Sergey Brin and his wife, Nicole Shanahan, ranked No. 19 with $113.2 million in gifts to their foundations and other nonprofits. Shanahan last year created the Bia-Echo Foundation to focus on improving reproductive longevity and to overhaul the criminal-justice system and fight climate change.
- Among the most unusual recipients of a big gift was the Banning Ranch Conservancy, an all-volunteer group that received $45 million to preserve environmentally sensitive land. Frank and Joan Randall, who were ranked No. 43, gave the money to help protect 401 acres near Newport Beach, Calif., from development. (Read more about how the group won the gift.)
The Philanthropy 50, now in its 20th year, is based on publicly reported contributions as well as extensive research into donors and nonprofits. Because nobody is required to disclose their contributions, it is possible other donors gave as much or more than those on the list but kept their gifts anonymous.
Over the 20 years of the Philanthropy 50, Warren Buffett has committed far more to charity than anyone else on the list. The $58 billion he donated makes up 20 percent of all the money contributed by Philanthropy 50 donors over the last two decades. The late Paul Allen appeared 17 times on the list, more than anyone else, followed by Pierre and Pam Omidyar.
The entire Philanthropy 50 report, with data from the past two decades, is available exclusively to Chronicle of Philanthropy subscribers, who also have access to other articles about the Philanthropy 50 donors in our February issue.
Michael Theis and Brian O’Leary contributed to the Philanthropy 50 data gathering and analysis.
