The 20 most generous people in the world
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Bill Gates now focuses most of his time on philanthropy, running the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation alongside his wife ( Getty )
Pioneering American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie once set the standard for giving back: "No man can becom rich without himself enriching others," he said. "The man who dies rich dies disgraced."
Scores of the world's wealthiest people have taken to his philosophy, donating their riches to hundreds of causes.
Since you need to have a lot to give a lot, Wealth-X also determined each person's Generosity Index, which is the ratio of their lifetime donations to their current net worth. Some people, like retail magnate Chuck Feeney, known as the "James Bond of philanthropy," have indices over 100% because they have given away more money than they currently have.
With a total combined donation amount of $106.8 billion, these 20 individuals are the top philanthropists in the world.
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1. Bill Gates
Lifetime donations: $27 billion
Net worth: $84.2 billion
Generosity Index: 32%
While he is best known as the cofounder of Microsoft, Bill Gates now focuses most of his time on philanthropy, running the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation alongside his wife.
The foundation issues grants for initiatives and programs across the globe, focusing on agricultural development, emergency relief, global libraries, urban poverty, global health, and education.
Since its inception, the foundation has donated millions to organizations that include the GAVI Alliance; the World Health Organization; The Rotary Foundation; The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; and UNICEF.
2. Warren Buffett
Lifetime donations: $21.5 billion
Net worth: $61 billion
Generosity Index: 35%
The chairman and CEO of holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett is not only one of the wealthiest people in the world, he's also one of the most charitable.
In 2006, Buffett vowed to donate 85% of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as other foundations set up by family members.
And in 2011, the Oracle of Omaha partnered with Gates in creating the Giving Pledge, a program that commits wealthy individuals to donating a large percentage of their wealth to charitable causes.
3. George Soros
Lifetime donations : $8 billion
Net worth : $24.4 billion
Generosity Index : 33%
George Soros , the retired founder of Soros Fund Management, currently serves as the chairman of the Open Society Foundations, a network of foundations he founded in 1979, which primarily donate to international causes, community development, social services, health, and education.
Open Society is best known for its focus on human rights. Soros' first act with the organization involved p roviding scholarships to black South Africans under apartheid.
The co founder of Home Depot is leaving billions to charity when he dies.
Kudos to these 20 and the numerous others that make philanthropy their goal in life.
Of the three listed in the comments above, I find it interesting that two of the three (Buffett and Soros) are Democrats-- even though a commonly held stereotypwe is that the wealthiest people are all Republicans.
(Bill Gates used to be a republican-- I don't know if he still is).
Buffet was born and raised by a Republican family and used to be one himself, but later changed his political affiliation to Democrat.
I'm glad these people give to charity. I really am. But I'm not impressed with giving away 30-something percent of your net worth if it means your remaining net worth is still in the double-digit billions.
The one I mentioned is leaving 80-90% of his.
Oh yeah, there's a couple guys on the list who are worth way less than what they have given away. Sulaiman bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi who has $590 million but has given away $5.7 billion, and especially Chuck Feeney, who has $1.5 million and given away $6.3 billion. That's a lot more impressive than say, what Gates has done. Not that I don't appreciate what Gates is done. In fact, I don't begrudge anyone their fortune so long as they made it honestly.
I'm not impressed with giving away 30-something percent of your net worth if it means your remaining net worth is still in the double-digit billions.
So who's making more of a positive impact on the world-- someone who contributes multi-millions of dollars (but still retains a lot of money)-- or someone who gives $25 a year but only has very little left?
(Of course there are always the naysayers-- those folks who say that every ""silver lining-- has a cloud!)
Someone once called that sort of attitude called it having "The Reverse Midas Touch": they can turn gold into sh*t!
Another definition of "The Reverse Midas Touch":
Everything they touch turns to sh*t.
(And for some strange reason there are a lot of those types on many social media sites...
It's not about who is making the biggest impact. Anyone donating to charity is doing a good thing. But if you're asking me to actually be impressed by someone's generosity, I'm just not going to be impressed if you're still sitting on tens of billions of dollars. That person isn't taking any kind of financial risk to give to charity. That person's life will still be far more comfortable and luxurious than 99.999% of the world's population.
Far more impressive to me is the person who has to put off regular purchases or buy cheaper brands of food yet still gives a little pocket money to a church every week or a little cash to a random homeless person.
Sure it is!
(Don't you ever read the seeded article (or even just the seeded summary) before commenting?)