America's Top 5 Most Philanthropic Billionaires

Altogether, the lifetime giving of America's top 25 philanthropists through December 30, 2023 rose to nearly $211 billion, up about 7% from last year’s total, Forbes found. New giving just in 2023 by the members of this year’s list totaled nearly $25 billion.

But that increase in charitable giving pales in comparison to the rise in their fortunes in the past year. The 25 biggest givers are together now worth an estimated $1.35 trillion–up an astonishing 44% more than a year ago, largely thanks to a dramatic rise in U.S. stocks.

Warren Buffett tops our list as the biggest giver for the fourth year in a row, with $56.7 billion in lifetime giving. The 93-year-old CEO of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway–who also gave away the most in 2023–is on a mission to make sure that he doesn’t leave his heirs a fortune.

Our estimates factor in the total lifetime giving of Americans through the end of 2023, measured in dollars given to charitable recipients; we are not including money parked in a foundation that has yet to do any good. To that end, we also do not include gifts that have been pledged but not yet paid out, or money given to donor-advised funds—opaque, tax-advantaged accounts that have neither disclosure nor distribution requirements—unless the giver shared details about the grants that were actually paid out by such entities. For giving as a percent of net worth, we add lifetime giving to net worth and then divide lifetime giving into that total. This is a list of individuals and couples who are U.S. citizens; as a result, we exclude extended families like the Waltons, controlling shareholders of Walmart, and big givers like Hansjoerg Wyss, who lives in the U.S. but is a Swiss citizen. We also don’t list deceased individuals. Net worths are as of February 9, 2024.

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