The 10 Top American Givers
by Aili McConnon and Lawrence Delevingne
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Many of America's ultra-rich continued to give big donations to charity in 2008, despite the worst financial crisis in decades. In the past year, seven philanthropists gave north of $200 million and nine gave more than $100 million to causes ranging from wilderness preservation to fighting malaria. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates remain far and away the biggest givers overall, but two of 12 newcomers to the list pledged to give more than $1 billion away: William Barron Hilton, co-chairman of the Hilton hotel chain who pledged late last year to give away 97% of his wealth -- some $1.7 billion -- to his family's humanitarian foundation and Peter G. Peterson, co-founder of the investment firm Blackstone Group, who gave $1 billion this year to establish a foundation that promotes fiscal responsibility. Read their stories -- and those of the 48 other philanthropists on BusinessWeek's list -- here.
1. Warren Buffett
Berkshire Hathaway CEO
2004-08 Giving* $40,655 million
Buffett's $31 billion commitment to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced in
June 2006, resonated throughout the philanthropic community. The giving is aimed at
funding education and global health initiatives. This year the commitment to the Gates
Foundation still resonates, inspiring other donors with a new model of philanthropy.
Buffett, the world's second-richest man, also earmarked billions for the Susan Thompson
Buffett Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation --
independent family foundations that support causes ranging from reproductive health to
worldwide conservation.
For more, visit the Warren Buffett Philanthropy.
2. Bill & Melinda Gates
Microsoft co-founder
2004-08 Giving* $2,625 million
Bill and Melinda Gates give through their massive Seattle-based family foundation, which
says it is "committed to ensuring all people have the opportunity to lead healthy,
productive lives." With an endowment of nearly $36 billion, the foundation works with
partners to give people a chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty in
developing countries and, in the U.S., to ensure that all people have the opportunities
they need to succeed in school and life. Its endowment is eventually expected to double,
thanks to a long-term $31 billion gift from investor Warren Buffett, which pays out in
installments. Recent initiatives include $100 million in micro medical-research grants; a
$164 million grant to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa; and $125 million to
fight global tobacco use as part of a $500 million partnership with New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg.
For more, visit the Gates Foundation.
3. George Kaiser
Oil and gas, banking, investments
2004-08 Giving* $2,377 million
Kaiser's focus remains on early intervention in the cycle of poverty. Giving through his
Tulsa-based foundation provides services that include early childhood education, pre-natal
health care, public health, in-home parenting, and secondary education, as well as more
generalized safety net services that deal with the symptoms of poverty. More recent
initiatives have focused on women's incarceration, secondary schools, and reserving land
to create an arts and entertainment district in Tulsa. The biggest payout may be yet to
come: Kaiser has said he plans to increase his gifts "until I die with one dollar
left, assuming I can get the timing just right."
For more, visit the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
4. George Soros
Investor
2004-08 Giving* $2,214 million
Soros distributes $400 million or more each year through his charitable network, which
aims to foster open and democratic societies around the world. This year Soros gave some
$535 million to dozens of initiatives, including education in Liberia, microfinance in
India, and mental health in Moldova. In 2005 he gave an extra $200 million for his Central
European University, a graduate school he helped found in Budapest in 1991. An immigrant
from Hungary who made his first billion dollars in England, Soros has given nearly $7
billion to support his network of foundations in more than 60 countries.
For more, visit the Open Society Institute.
5. William Barron Hilton
Heir and former CEO of Hilton Hotels
2004-08 Giving* $1,700 million
New to list Following in his father's footsteps, Hilton late last year announced
his intention to leave 97% of his wealth to charity after his stakes in Hilton Hotels and
Harrah's Entertainment were bought out by private equity groups for billions. Hilton's
fortune will go to his family's foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, which works
to alleviate the suffering of the world's most disadvantaged, with an emphasis on children
and support for the work of Roman Catholic nuns. Grants go to causes such as stopping
trachoma, the world's leading cause of preventable blindness in Africa; helping homeless
families in the U.S.; and providing clean water in Mexico.
For more, visit the Hilton Foundation.
6. Walton Family
Family of Wal-Mart founder
2004-08 Giving* $1,380 million
The world's richest family is also one of the most united when it comes to philanthropy.
The secretive Waltons commit the bulk of their gifts through the Walton Family Foundation,
which supports a variety of charitable causes. Their areas of focus: K-12 education
reform, quality-of-life initiatives in northwest Arkansas (home to Wal-Mart), economic
development initiatives in the Mississippi Delta region of the U.S., and most recently,
marine and fresh water fishing sustainability initiatives.
For more, visit the Walton Family Foundation.
7. Herbert & Marion Sandler
Golden West Financial co-founders
2004-08 Giving* $1,329 million
The Sandlers have given away more than $1 billion to the Sandler Foundation, which works
to strengthen progressive causes, such as: exposing corruption and abuse of power;
advocating for vulnerable and exploited people and environments; and advancing scientific
research. Last year, for example, the foundation committed $10 million a year to launch
and sustain ProPublica, an independent non-profit newsroom, under the leadership of former
Wall Street Journal Managing Editor Paul Steiger, that produces investigative journalism
in the public interest. The foundation also helped establish the liberal think-tank Center
for American Progress with a $50 million gift in 2004.
For more, visit the Sandler Foundation.
8. Peter Peterson
Blackstone Group co-founder
2004-08 Giving* $1,168 million
New to list Using his proceeds from Blackstone Group's IPO, Peterson donated $1
billion to establish the Peter G. Peterson Foundation this year. The focus: to encourage
greater fiscal responsibility in the U.S. The foundation has already purchased, promoted,
and distributed the documentary I.O.U.S.A. to educate Americans about swelling national
and personal debt. (The film is likened by many to Al Gore's documentary on global
warming, An Inconvenient Truth.) The former Commerce Secretary's timing was uncanny as the
financial crisis underscored his urgent message about excessive spending.
For more, visit the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
9. Donald Bren
Real estate developer
2004-08 Giving* $908 million
Using property and wealth from his real estate business, Bren has given more than $1
billion, much of it to support education. Bren's commitment to schooling runs the gamut
from students to principals to school districts to university scholars on his Irvine
Ranch. This year Bren gave $8.5 million to THINK Together after-school programs, one of
the largest private donations to after-school programs in California history. In 2007
gifts included $20 million for a new law school at University of California at Irvine and
$3 million in annual grants, teacher recognition, and student scholarships. In 2006 he
gave a $20 million gift to fund elementary fine arts, music, and science programs at
schools in Irvine, Calif.
For more, visit the Donald Bren Foundation.
10. Michael Bloomberg
Bloomberg founder, NYC Mayor
2004-08 Giving* $903 million
This year, Bloomberg added a $250 million, four-year commitment to his Initiative to
Reduce Tobacco Use, which was established in 2005 and has received more than $375 million
from the New York City mayor. The new money is in partnership with the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. Late last year, Bloomberg's Family Foundation gave $9 million to promote
global road safety, among others on the mayor's long list of charitable causes each year.
Dedicated to making strides in education, he has also committed $100 million to alma mater
Johns Hopkins University and purchased a townhouse on the Upper East Side for his future
foundation. Bloomberg gave $10 million to the World Trade Center Foundation. Since 1997,
Bloomberg has pledged more than $1.5 billion to charities and initiatives.
For more, visit the Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Click here to see the full list
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106219/The-10-Top-American-Givers
Ed. note: Most of these NWO Gangsters give to their own tax-dodging foundations or to the tax-dodging foundations of their fellow gangsters. NONE of them are true philanthropists. They are tax cheats who evade taxes so the poor have to pay the rich gangsters share. Foundations are the creation of the NWO Gang designed to help them keep their illegal and criminal profits. All of these gangsters belong in prison with all of their wealth distributed to the needy.