4 charities are thankful for Warren Buffett this Thanksgiving, as he gives away $870 million of his fortune to philanthropy (2024)

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4 charities are thankful for Warren Buffett this Thanksgiving, as he gives away $870 million of his fortune to philanthropy? ›

The "Oracle of Omaha" delivered them Tuesday to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation, Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in a press release. They were collectively worth roughly $870 million.

Warren Buffett's $541 million gift to his foundation topped the list of supersized charitable donations in 2023. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of the biggest charitable donations from individuals or their foundations totaled more than $3.5 billion in 2023.

Rupert Hoogewerf, the chairman and chief researcher at Hurun, said, “Whilst American and European philanthropists may have dominated the thinking of philanthropy over the last century, Jamsetji Tata, founder of India's Tata Group is the world's biggest philanthropist.”

Jamsetji Tata named world's most charitable, beats Bill Gates. The title of the world's most generous individual goes to an Indian who outshines renowned figures like Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, and Shiv Nadar.

Warren Buffett typically does not give money to individuals, although he frequently donates to charities. However, he has in the past forwarded individual requests for money to his sister, Ms. Doris Buffett, who operates an organization called the Sunshine Lady Foundation.

1. Warren Buffett. Buffett has promised to donate more than 99% of his wealth. So far, he has given some $55 billion, mostly through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and his children's foundations.

Six years ago, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates started a campaign called The Giving Pledge to have billionaires promise to give away at least half of their fortunes to charity. Since then, almost 200 billionaires have pledged to give their money to foundations and charities rather than to their children.

Who has Bill Gates donated to? ›

These giving levels vary by particular faith. Mormons are the most generous Americans, both by participation level and by size of gifts.

The Musk Foundation's massive endowment, largely given by Elon in the form of stocks, makes it the 28th largest charitable foundation in the world, just behind the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust, which paid for the elementary school I attended.

China has the lowest Index score over the 10 years at 16% and in fact is the only country that appears in the bottom 10 for all three measures we ask about; helping a stranger, donating money and volunteering time. This section of the report looks at trends within our top 10 highest scoring countries over time.

In dollar terms, though, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett takes the title of the U.S.' most generous person—he's donated an estimated $55 billion, mainly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as four charities set up by Buffett's three children and his late wife.

According to a ranking compiled by the EdelGive Foundation and Hurun Report, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder of the Tata Group, has emerged as the world's most prominent philanthropist over the last century.

Musk donated $1.95 billion worth of Tesla shares to charities in 2022 and $5.74 billion in 2021, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Musk Foundation, like all charitable organizations, is mandated by law to allocate a minimum of 5% of its assets annually.

He will be leaving only USD 2 billion for each of his three children, the Washington Post reported in 2014. Buffett will give away his fortune to charity. He is the co-founder of The Giving Pledge and he'll be donating 99 per cent of his wealth to charity during his lifetime or at the time of his death.

First, my pledge: More than 99% of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my lifetime or at death. Measured by dollars, this commitment is large. In a comparative sense, though, many individuals give more to others every day.

Bezos, 60, for his part, has donated more than $3 billion over that period. But that's far off of the billions more he's promised to give away with few immediate details.