According to news on January 3, the latest report from the U.S. Chronicle of Philanthropy shows that total charitable donations from individuals and their foundations soared to more than $3.5 billion in 2023. What is striking is that eight of the donors are billionaires, with a combined total assets of US$305.1 billion. Among them, investment guru Warren Buffett’s donation is far ahead. According to "Forbes" magazine, Buffett's net worth is approximately US$119 billion.
Buffett donated 1.5 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares (valued at $541.5 million) to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for Buffett's first wife, who died in 2004.
A family charity founded by Buffett as early as 1964. Both of his children now serve on the board, which is led by his former son-in-law. The foundation focuses on women's reproductive health and provides college scholarships to students in Buffett's home state of Nebraska. It is worth mentioning that this donation is not Buffett's regular annual donation, but a large donation he specially announced in November. Buffett pledged to donate billions of dollars in 2006 and has fulfilled part of his pledge every year.
Following Buffett are mathematician and hedge fund founder James Simons and his wife Marilyn Simons. The couple donated $500 million to SUNY Stony Brook through their Simons Foundation to support the university’s endowment and increase scholarships, professorships, research and clinical care, and more.
The Simmons, whose net worth is estimated to be $30.7 billion, have deep ties to SUNY Stony Brook. James Simons served as chair of the mathematics department here from 1968 to 1978, and Marilyn earned two degrees from the school: a bachelor's degree in 1974 and a doctorate in economics in 1984. Over the past 10 years, they have donated nearly $600 million to the school through their foundation.
Tied for third place is Ross Brown, founder of industrial equipment manufacturer Cryogenic Industries. Last November, Brown donated $400 million to Caltech, the largest donation in science in 2023. The gift will be made through Brown’s family foundation and a donor-advised fund, primarily to launch the Brown Institute for Basic Science.
The institute will also support scientific research at other universities and will establish the Ross Brown Researcher Awards Program, a scholarship program that Brown launched in 2020 and was operated by his foundation until this year. The program provides five-year, $2 million awards to mid-career tenured faculty members engaged in chemistry and physics research.
Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife Penny have pledged $400 million to the 1803 Fund. The Knights, whose net worth is approximately $43 billion, will use their donation to rebuild Albina in Portland, Oregon, a project aimed at revitalizing Albina's economic and cultural prosperity.
Daniel and Jennifer Gilbert donated $375 million to the Henry Ford Health Center through the Gilbert Family Foundation to build two medical centers, ranking fourth on the list of donations. Daniel Gilbert is the founder of QuickenLoans and chairman of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The couple's net worth is estimated at nearly $29 billion.
One of the medical centers will be the Rehabilitation Center at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The center will provide rehabilitation services for patients with spinal cord injuries, strokes, traumatic brain injuries and other conditions. The Gilberts are using $10 million of the total to create a special fund to pay for rehabilitative care for low-income Detroit residents who have little or no health insurance.
Another medical center, the Nick Gilbert Neurofibromatosis Institute, will bring together medical experts and researchers from Henry Ford Health and MSU College of Health Sciences to work together to find treatments for neurofibromatosis. Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow along nerve pathways throughout the body. Gilbert's eldest son, Nick Gilbert, was diagnosed with the disease as a child and has dedicated much of his life to raising awareness of the disease. Nick passed away in May last year at the age of 26.
The fifth largest philanthropic gift came from financier Kenneth Griffin, who donated $300 million through his philanthropic foundation of the same name to support the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ scholarship program and a range of other projects. Griffin, whose net worth is estimated to be about $38 billion, has made numerous contributions to his alma mater over the years, including providing tens of millions of dollars in financial aid to undergraduate students.
Griffin also gave another gift, one of the biggest in 2023. He teamed up with entertainment industry executive David Geffen to provide $400 million for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Neither philanthropist would reveal the exact amount of their respective donations, so the Chronicle did not include those donations in its rankings.
The Chronicle's annual ranking is based on the 10 largest publicly announced donations, a number that does not include art donations or anonymous donations. In March of this year, the Chronicle of Philanthropy will publish its annual list of the 50 largest donors, which is based on the total donations made by philanthropists in 2023, rather than a single donation. (little)