Chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway and the biggest investor of all time, Warren Buffet emerged as the biggest charity donor of 2023 with his $541.5 million donation made last year.
The Oracle of Omaha topped the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the biggest charitable donations in 2023. The total amount of the donations mentioned in the list was more than $3.5 billion in 2023, reported AP.
Most of these donations went to universities, scientific research institutes, healthcare systems, family foundations, and a racial-justice group.
The total list includes 11 donation gifts, out of them eight are made by multibillionaires with a combined net worth equivalent to $305.1 billion.
Warren Buffett
The list was topped by investment guru Warren Buffett, whose net worth is estimated to be $119 billion, as estimated by Forbes. Buffett donated 1.5 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class “B” stock to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation. The stock valued at $541.5 million was donated to the foundation named after his first wife who died in 2004.
The foundation mainly works in the field of women’s reproductive health. It also gives college scholarships for students in Nebraska, where his family is from.
The donation, announced in November, was not a part of the annual contributions he makes to the foundation and several other grantmakers, which are payments toward multibillion-dollar pledges he announced in 2006.
James Simons and their wife Marilyn
Mathematician and hedge-fund founder James Simons and his wife, Marilyn are second on the list. The couple donated $500 million through their Simons Foundation to the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The donation was made to support the university’s endowment and provide scholarships, professorships, research, and clinical care.
Ross Brown
Third on the list is Ross Brown, the founder of Cryogenic Industries. In November, he pledged to donate $400 million to the California Institute of Technology. The gift will be given through his family foundation and a donor-advised fund. The donation amount would be utilised to launch the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences.
Phil Knight’s wife Penny
Nike cofounder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny were among the top five donors on the list. The couple had pledged a donation of $400 million to the 1803 Fund. The commitment from the Knights, whose net worth is pegged at $43 billion, will be utilised in the rehabilitation of Albina. The fund will establish Rebuild Albina, an initiative to bring Albina back to life. It is a historic area of Portland, Oregon, that was once a thriving Black neighborhood but fell into neglect in the 1970s.
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Published: 02 Jan 2024, 10:18 PM IST