How America's Richest Donate their Money

Billionaire philanthropy in America is a complicated and problematic story, and the annual Forbes list of America's biggest givers only scratches the surface of the issue. The list ranks the biggest givers by how much they have given over a lifetime, excluding money parked in a foundation and money pledged but not paid out. This results in a pile of money worth $196 billion of lifetime giving, which is bigger than the GDP of most countries. While this money has done a lot of good, it also hides a more complex story of billionaire philanthropy.

Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda French Gates are among the most significant donors on the Forbes list, and they are standouts because of their philanthropic efforts. Buffett's current net worth is $106 billion, and he has given away $51.5 billion in his life, putting him at 33%. Bill and Melinda French Gates, who are divorced but still do philanthropic work together, have a collective net worth of $109 billion and have given $38.4 billion away. Most of this group's donations go to poverty and public health around the world and education in the US. Together, Buffett and the Gates's created the Giving Pledge, which is a promise by the world's wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate a majority of their wealth to charitable causes. However, only two of the 25 givers on the Forbes list have made it over the 50% line.

The banker T. Denny Sanford has given 53% of his net worth away, and Duty-Free Shoppers founder Chuck Feeney has given away almost every last penny of his fortune. George Soros, who hasn't signed the Giving Pledge, has given 73% of his wealth away. The eBay founder and his wife go here, and everyone else on the Forbes list falls roughly in this area. Over the course of their lives, they've given 12% or less of their net worth away.

The Forbes list reveals that the highest net worth but the lowest proportion of it given away is Jeff Bezos. As the founder of Amazon, he is the richest person on the list, with a net worth of $117 billion, but he has only given away $2.7 billion, which is 2.3% of his wealth over his lifetime. This percentage is about the same as what Americans, on average, consistently give as a proportion of their disposable income per year, which is about 2%. Bezos's money has gone to various causes, like fighting climate change, education, and he even gave $100 million directly to Dolly Parton. However, Bezos's philanthropic reputation at this point is kind of hazy, according to Whizy Kim, senior reporter for Vox, who covers billionaires. A lot of people speculate that that's one of the reasons he has made this recent announcement of "I'm eventually going to give my net worth away." There was a lot of pushback, a lot of speculation around "Hey Jeff, why aren't you more involved in philanthropy?"

The Forbes list shows who the real standout givers are, those who give most of their wealth away and those who hold onto their enormous fortunes. Even if a certain individual is very generous, if overall, this class of people just keeps amassing more and more money, we've got to look at ourselves and ask "Okay, what are we doing wrong here, and how do we reverse this?" All this money creates what the Institute for Policy Studies has called top-heavy philanthropy, where individual wealthy donors make up a large portion of charitable giving. Since 2011, mega gifts of $1 million or more from single donors have been growing.