The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the top 10 philanthropic donations by individuals or foundations totaled nearly $9.3 billion in 2022. Contributions to environmental sustainability, child mental health and stem cell research. Other gifts supported cancer research and treatment, shelter efforts, youth programs, and reproductive health.
Two of the gifts exceeded $1 billion, and six of the eight donors (one donor made three gifts) are multibillionaires. The combined net worth of these six donors is just over $325 billion.
Topping the list is Bill Gates, who gave $5 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the donor’s work in global health, development, policy and advocacy, and US education. Gates, whose net worth is estimated at $ 104 billion, attracted attention when he announced in July that he would donate $ 20 billion to the foundation he runs with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates. But foundation officials confirmed in December that three-quarters of that $20 billion went to pay off the $15 billion that he and French Gates had committed in July 2021. The remaining $5 billion was a new contribution to the foundation.
Ann and John Doerr placed second with a $1.1 billion donation to Stanford University through the Benificus Foundation to launch the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, an effort to tackle the world’s most pressing climate and sustainability challenges. The new school will focus on eight science areas: climate change, Earth and planetary sciences, energy technology, sustainable cities, natural environment, food and water security, human society and behavior, and human health and environment.
The new school will house several academic departments and interdisciplinary institutes. It will also host a “sustainability accelerator” that will award grants to researchers and others to develop new technologies, develop new policies and support partnerships in environmental sustainability and related fields, among other efforts.
John Doerr, Sun Microsystems, Amazonand Google. Today he serves as chairman of investment firm Kleiner Perkins and has a net worth of just over $9 billion.
In third place is Jackie and Mike Bezos, mother and stepfather of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The couple gave the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center $710.5 million to build 36 research laboratories and an additional large research facility. The grant will also support the cancer center’s clinical trials and immunotherapy research over the next 10 years.
The couple were pretty low profile philanthropists until recently. Still, Jackie Bezos has been closely involved in many nonprofit projects over the years. He created the Bezos Scholars Program at the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Challenge, and Students Rebuild, all of which are educational programs for various age groups. Mike Bezos spent 32 years as an engineer and executive at oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil before retiring, turning his attention to the couple’s donation.
Gifts from the Doerrs and Bezos were followed by a gift from Warren Buffett. The venerable 92-year-old investor gave approximately $474.3 million worth of stock to Warren Buffett’s Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, which he founded in 1964 to run the family’s charity and named after his first wife, who later died in 2004. The foundation supports women’s reproductive health and provides college scholarships to students in Nebraska, where the foundation is located.
A Buffett representative confirmed that the gift was a special one-time contribution that Buffett decided to make at the end of November, rather than one of Buffett’s multibillion-dollar annual donations to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and several other donors. Commitments announced in 2006.
The late Ruth DeYoung Kohler II ranks fifth on the list. The Kohler Company heir, who died in 2020 at the age of 79, left a $440 million legacy to found the Ruth Foundation for the Arts, a Milwaukee grant organization dedicated to supporting visual and performing arts groups around the country. It plans to give about $20 million a year. Kohler was an avid arts supporter and ran the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin from 1972 to 2016.
Kohler II is followed by MacKenzie Scott, a novelist and Amazon co-founder who gave $436 million to Habitat for Humanity International. The gift was unlimited, as with most of Scott’s donations. When Habitat for Humanity officials announced the gift in March, they said they planned to use the money to tackle the global housing crisis and advocate for system-wide changes to increase fair access to affordable housing for all.
Two additional gifts from Scott — $281 million to Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Planned Parenthood The American Federation—also listed.
The Chronicle’s annual ranking is based on the 10 greatest gifts ever made public. The number does not include contributions of artwork or gifts from anonymous donors. In February, the Chronicle will announce its annual ranking of the 50 largest donors, a list based on individuals’ total contributions in 2022, rather than individual gifts.
This article was provided to the Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Maria Di Mento is a senior reporter at the Chronicle. Email: maria.dimento@philanthropy.com. AP and Chronicle receive support from the Lilly Endowment for its philanthropy and nonprofit coverage. Only AP and Chronicle are responsible for all content. For all AP’s philanthropic coverage, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/filantropy.
