Top 10 Most Charitable Billionaires In The World (2022)

A total number of 231 billionaires under the Giving Pledge Organization, have pledged to donate most of their fortunes either before or after their deaths. The Giving Pledge was created by Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates, and Bill Gates to encourage extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.  Some of these billionaires while still alive have begun giving away huge sums of their net worth to charity.  This is why we have decided to compile a list of the 10 most charitable billionaires in the world, to celebrate these industrial and philanthropic giants.

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1. Warren Buffet

President & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet is the most charitable billionaire in the world. He has given away a lifetime donation of $46.1 billion. As earlier stated he founded The Giving Pledge Organization alongside Bill and Melinda Gates to give away 99% of his fortune. He donates $2 billion to $3 billion worth of stock per year to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has put it to work on poverty and healthcare initiatives in developing countries and education in the U.S. He has also given billions to the four charities set up by his three children and his late wife.  Warren Buffet is regarded by many as the biggest philanthropist of all time.

2. Bill Gates

American business magnate, Bill Gates, takes the second position among the most charitable billionaires in the world, with a lifetime donation of $33.4 billion via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates began making notable donations in 2000 When donated stock valued at $5 billion to create the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As of 2020, the foundation made $5.8 billion in grants, including spending on research and vaccines for Covid-19.  Prior to Warren Buffet’s rise to the top of this list, Bill held it for many years, as of 2007, he and his wife have given over $28 billion to charity.

3. Azim Premji

Azim Premji is an Indian billionaire and one of the most charitable billionaires in the world, with a lifetime donation of $21 billion. He is the first Indian to sign up for the Giving Pledge, despite just having an estimated net worth of $5 billion at that time.  In December 2010, he donated  US$2 billion to improve school education in India. The donation is the largest of its kind in India to date. In 2019, he dropped from the 2nd position in the Forbes India Rich list to the 17th position after giving away a huge amount to charity. Premji has said that being rich “did not thrill” him, noting that he will donate a huge sum of his wealth to charity before death.

4. George Soros

George Soros is a Hungarian-born American philanthropist. He is one of the most charitable billionaires in the world, with a lifetime donation of $18.1 billion. Forbes called him the “most generous giver” after donating $15 billion (64% of his original fortune) to the Open Society Foundations. In June 2009, Soros donated $100 million to Central Europe and Eastern Europe to counter the impact of the economic crisis on the poor, voluntary groups, and non-government organizations. Between 1979 and 2011, he donated more than $11 billion to various philanthropic causes; by 2017, his donations “on civil initiatives to reduce poverty and increase transparency, and on scholarships and universities around the world” totaled $12 billion.

5. Michael Bloomberg

Former New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg is one of the most charitable billionaires in the world. He has poured more than $12 billion into charitable causes, including $1.6 billion over the past year. He’s spent more than $1 billion to curb tobacco use over the last decade, and in 2018 announced a $1.8 billion pledge to Johns Hopkins University, his alma mater. He also donated a $100 million gift to support four historically Black medical schools in 2020 and $750 million to support charter schools in 20 metro areas around the U.S. over the next five years.

6. MacKenzie Scott

Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott takes sixth place among the 10 most charitable billionaires in the world with a  lifetime donation of $8.61 billion. According to reports, Scott has donated more in two years than her ex-husband Bezos has in a lifetime and has been giving her wealth away faster than any billionaire ever. In 2020, she donated US$5.8 billion to 500 different groups across the United States. In June 2021, Scott announced another US$2.7 billion ($3.7 billion) in gifts to 286 ‘high-impact’ groups, such as the Children’s Defense Fund and the National Council of Nonprofits.

7. Chuck Feeney

Former billionaire Chuck Feeney takes seventh place among the most charitable billionaires in the world, after giving away virtually all of his fortunes as part of a lofty goal to die broke. Feeney began by donating parts of his fortune anonymously but eventually went public with his “Giving While Living” idea, which influenced the Gateses and Buffett to launch The Giving Pledge in 2010. Of his $8 billion in donations, some $3.7 billion went to education, including $1 billion to his alma mater, Cornell. In September 2020, Feeney and his wife Helga shuttered his foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies, after it gave away the last of its assets.

8. Gordon Moore

Intel co-founder and former longtime CEO, Gordon Moore is one of the most charitable billionaires in the world, with a lifetime donation of $5.5 billion. He and his wife launched their foundation in 2000, funding it with gifts of Intel stock. In September 2021, the Moore Foundation joined eight other groups, including the Bezos Earth Fund and Bloomberg Philanthropies, to pledge $5 billion over ten years to support biodiversity. Specifically, the commitment is to ensure that 30% of the planet is protected in the most important places for biodiversity by 2030. In 2021, the Moore foundation awarded nearly $350 million in grants.

9. Christopher Hohn

British billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist, Christopher Hohn, takes ninth place among the most charitable billionaires in the world, with a lifetime donation of $4.5 billion. He co-founded the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) in 2002 with his then-wife Jamie.  The now ex-couple have since then given at least $4.5 billion to CIFF, moving assets from the hedge fund into the foundation. “The original mission in setting up CIFF was to improve the lives of children in developing countries who live in poverty,” says Hohn on CIFF’s website. “This hasn’t changed. I want to solve problems, not make grants.”

10. Carlos Slim Helú

Mexican Billionaire, Carlos Slim Helu concludes the list of the 10 most charitable billionaires in the world. Carlos who believes “Charity doesn’t solve poverty” has made a lifetime donation of $4.2 billion. According to him, Many of the world’s problems will only be solved by business activity and development. He gave $2 billion to his Carlos Slimfoundation in 2006 and the same amount again in 2010. He recently donated another $160 million to the outfit, which works on improving health conditions and education, among other causes, so people can work to support their families. Most of that money has come from dividends Slim collected from shares he owns in some of Mexico’s largest companies.

Summary

For the sake of Optimization and emphasis here is a recap of the 10 most charitable billionaires in the world and a total of their lifetime donations.

1. Warren Buffet – $46.1 billion
2. Bill Gates – $33.4 billion
3. Azim Premji – $21 billion
4. George Soros – $18.1 billion
5. Michael Bloomberg – $12.7 billion
6. MacKenzie Scott – $8.61 billion
7. Chuck Feeney – $8 billion
8. Gordon Moore – $5.5 billion
9. Christopher Hohn – $4.5 billion
10. Carlos Slim Helú – $4.2 billion