U.S. Philanthropists The Most Generous 2006
1. Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway CEO: Buffett's 31 billion dollar commitment to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced in June, 2006, resonates throughout the philanthropic community, inspiring other givers with a new model of philanthropy. The giving is aimed at funding education and global health initiatives. Buffett, the world's second richest man, also earmarked billions for the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundationindependent family foundations that support causes including reproductive health and worldwide conservation.
2. Bill and Melinda Gates, Microsoft co-founder: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has kept an unwavering focus on alleviating global poverty and finding a cure for AIDS, among other targeted giving goals. Managing more than 31 billion dollar in assets, the foundation is the world's largest charity. And its endowment is expected to eventually double, thanks to a long-term gift from investor Warren Buffett, which pays out in installments. In addition to a continued effort to eradicate global poverty, the Gates Foundation seeks to widen access to information technology in libraries and to vastly improve America's schools. To help measure effect and constantly innovate its giving model, the Gates Foundation created an Impact Office in 2006 to improve its programs, track progress, and build effective giving models in the future.
4. George Soros, Investor: Soros distributes 400 million dollar or more each year through his charitable network. One of Soros' gifts this year was a pledge of 5 million dollar to support Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's education initiatives. In 2005, he gave an extra 200 million dollar 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 a global philanthropic focus and a clearly demonstrated goal of promoting democracy in the U.S. and abroad.
5. Gordon and Betty Moore, Intel co-founder: With charitable gifts totaling well above 7 billion dollars, the Moores are serious about saving the environment. In 2001 the couple gave 5 billion dollars to the Moore Foundation, based in an eco-friendly building in San Francisco. The Moores fund scientific initiatives ranging from research in marine microbiology to astrophysics, as well as nursing initiatives in the San Francisco area. Environmental conservation gets about 50 percent of program resources, science 30 percent, and Bay area programs (including nursing) 20 percent.
6. Walton Family, Family of Wal-Mart founder: The world's richest family is also one of the most united when it comes to philanthropy. The Waltons commit the bulk of their gifts through the Walton Family Foundation, which has given more than 1 billion dollar to a variety of charitable causes over the past 20 years. 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.
8. Eli and Edythe Broad, SunAmerica, KB Home founder: The Broads, who own some 800 pieces of contemporary art, are building a new 60,000-square-foot gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). (The Broad Contemporary Art Museum at LACMA is scheduled to open on Feb. 9, 2008.) In 2007 they gave 26 million dollar to Michigan State University (Mr. Broad's alma mater) to build the Broad Art Museum. The three Broad Foundations, which focus on education, science, and the arts, as well as funding civic initatives, merged into two: the Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation and the Broad Art Foundation. Robert Day, a new top giver in 2007, serves on the newly formed Board of Governors. The Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation partnered with the Gates Foundation in 2007 to launch a 60 million dollar public awareness campaign to elevate education to the top of the domestic policy in the Presidential race.
12. Alfred Mann, Medical devices: The founder of 11 biomedical companies, Mann plans to parlay his wealth into at least as many top biomedical research institutes, the first of which opened at the University of Southern California with an endowment of more than 100 million dollar. An October agreement with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology plants the seedlings for the first of these overseas.
13. Michael and Susan Dell, Dell founder: Since 1999, the Dells have given more than 1.2 billion dollar for childhood-development programs and education in Texas. After Hurricane Katrina, the Dells responded personally with a 5 million dollar check to help storm victims. And in 2006, the couple gave generously to microfinance lenders in India's six largest cities, an effort that could help lift millions of urban slum dwellers out of poverty. In 2006, the Dells doled out 50 million dollar to the University of Texas, to cultivate excellence in children's health and education.
14. Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg founder, NYC mayor: Bloomberg pledged 125 million dollar in 2006 to a worldwide antismoking campaignfour years after banning smoking in New York's bars as mayor. Dedicated to making strides in education, he also committed 100 million dollar to alma mater Johns Hopkins University and purchased a townhouse on the Upper East Side for his future foundation. Bloomberg gave 10 million dollar to the World Trade Center Foundation. Since 1997, Bloomberg has pledged more than 1 billion dollar to charities and initiatives.
18. Veronica Atkins, widow of Dr. Robert Atkins: Atkins has continued her late husband's legacy of giving, focusing her giving on eradicating obesity and diabetes by teaching children good nutrition for long-term health. In 2006 she renamed her late husband's private charity the Dr. Robert C. & Veronica Atkins Foundation. She has redoubled her philanthropic efforts to witness results in her lifetime.
21. Pierre and Pam Omidyar, eBay chairman, founder: In 2004, the Omidyars (left eBay CEO Meg Whitman), transformed their foundation into the Omidyar Network, a major microfinance engine that could stimulate more than 1 billion dollar in microloans over the next decade. They say the goal of their work is to make a social impact, starting with the individual. In 2006 the couple gave 100 million dollar to Tufts University to establish a fund that will attract private capital and scale up the initiative. In 2007 the Network named Matthew Bannick, who'd previously run eBay's global philanthropy, managing partner. Bannick has said he wants to double the staff and refine the organization's strategies to increase the Network's impact.
23. Sandy and Joan Weill, former Citigroup chairman, CEO: This giving duo has focused their philanthropic efforts on education, health research, and the arts. In 2007 alone, they donated more than 330 million dollar to Weill Medical College and Cornell University. Part of their gift will build a new research center at the medical college and help recruit new faculty. Before giving, the couple brainstorm over dinner to plan their strategy and which causes to support, such as the National Academy Foundation, which they founded and which offers inner-city youth the chance to gain valuable skills in finance and the hospitality industries.
25. Ted Turner, CNN founder: On top of a 1 billion dollar pledge to the U.N., Turner supports the Better World Fund and the Nuclear Threat Initiativetwo foundations he created to raise awareness about the U.N.'s programs and to help reduce nuclear weapons. He also oversees a family foundation, which funds projects on the environment and population, with his five children: "We are all in this together," he says.
27. Kirk Kerkorian, Investor: Kerkorian's private Lincy Foundation, named after his daughters Linda and Tracy, supports humanitarian and entrepreneurial causes in Armenia and across the U.S. The ultrasecretive foundation, which is based in Beverly Hills, has funded a high-tech cancer treatment center in Las Vegas.
34. Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder: Allen's 100 million dollar brain science institute will map out the brain to help solve mysteries of neurological disorders. His foundation is a major funder of arts and cultural events in the Pacific Northwest, including local music festivals and the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle. Other causes supported by the foundation include those related to community development, social change, health and human services, and youth.
35. Oprah Winfrey, Harpo chairman: Oprah's Angel Network, which provides grants and support for charitable projects and nonprofit organizations, has raised more than 50 million dollar. The Network also is involved in building schools in underdeveloped rural areas. In January, Winfrey cut the ribbon on the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, a boarding school she funded and helped build in Johannesburg.
45. George Lucas, Lucasfilm founder: In 2006, Lucas gave 175 million dollars to his alma mater, the University of Southern California, for its prestigious School of Cinematic Arts. He has poured millions into his educational foundation, which develops and distributes free teaching and training materials to schools; funded a civil rights memorial on the National Mall in Washington; and supported various health-related causes.
46. Larry Ellison, Oracle CEO: Ellison, who funds research on aging and infectious diseases, settled an insider-trading lawsuit in late 2005 by agreeing to donate 100 million dollar over five years, in Oracle's name, to charity. He's paying the sum out to the Ellison Medical Foundation. Before the settlement, Ellison put 35 million dollar to 40 million dollar a year into his foundation
Haim and Cheryl Saban, Saban Capital Group CEO, chairman: The Sabans focus their giving on children's health care, as well as U.S. and Israeli charities. They've given north of 40 million dollar to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles over the years. Haim Saban, CEO of Saban Capital Group, is the former co-owner, chairman and CEO of Fox Family Worldwide Inc. and founder of Saban Entertainment, which produced children's television programs and films like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. In 2002 he founded the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution. Dr. Cheryl Saban, an author and child advocate, established the non-profit 50 Ways to Save Our Children in 1999.