Warren Buffett (C), CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, at the 2019 annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. He has given away US$51.5 billion over his lifetime, according to Forbes.
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The top 25 richest Americans gave US$27 billion to charitable causes in 2022, surpassing the previous two years despite a stock market slump that set back many fortunes.
The 25 richest people in the US had given away US$196 billion over their lifetime by the end of last year, compared to US$169 billion a year ago, according to a Forbes report published on Monday. The US$27 billion jump was higher than the annual gain of US$20 billion in the previous two years and more than doubled what the top 25 brought in in 2018.
The top 25 richest Americans gave more evenly as their combined wealth fell 15% year-on-year to US$936 billion by the end of 2022, Forbes said.
Warren Buffett, the richest person in the US with a net worth of US$106 billion, donated more than US$5.4 billion last year, boosting his lifetime giving to US$51.5 billion, the largest amount among the most generous donors in the US.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, through their foundation, have given away US$38.4 billion over their lifetime, adding more than US$5 billion in 2022. Bill Gates was the second richest person in the US by net worth US$102 billion. Melinda alone was estimated to be worth US$6.6 billion.
Third on the list of lifetime awards was George Soros. Soros, who did not sign the Giving Pledge, an initiative launched by Buffett and Gates to encourage the world’s richest people to donate more than half of their wealth during their lifetime or after they pass, has US$18.4 billion, including more than US$300. million in 2022. He has given away more than two-thirds of his fortune, and his net worth is currently estimated at US$6.7 billion, according to Forbes.
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MacKenzie Scott, who began to focus on philanthropy after divorcing Jeff Bezos in 2019, gave a total of US$14.43 billion in a short period of time, ranking fourth on the list of the most generous Americans. She donated US$5.82 million in 2022, the largest amount among the 25 richest people.
Among the richest and most generous Americans in 2022 are Michael Bloomberg, who gave away US$14.4 billion over his lifetime; Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, who have contributed US$3.9 billion to charities to date; and Bezos, with total donations of US$2.79 billion.
The full list also includes Charles Feeney; Gordon and Betty Moore; Jim and Marilyn Simons; Phil and Penny Knight; Edythe Broad and his family; Steve and Connie Ballmer; Sergey Brin; Lynn and Stacy Schusterman; Michael and Susan Dell; T. Denny Sanford; Donald Bren; Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna; Pierre and Pam Omidyar; Charles Koch; George Kaiser; Laura and John Arnold; Ken Griffin; and Ted Turner.
Brin and Griffin were new to the list, replacing Julian Robertson Jr., who died in August 2022, and Leonard Lauder, who fell short, according to Forbes.
The list did not consider non-US citizens or large families like the Waltons, Walmart’s controlling shareholders. The donations were based on the payments made by their foundations, not gifts given to them.
