Every year, the Chronicle of Philanthropy highlights the top donors in the United States. In 2019, the top fifty American donors gave $15.8 billion to various causes. This is nearly double the $8 billion given in 2018 by the top fifty. Here’s the list of the top ten American donors from last year:
- Michael Bloomberg ($3.3 billion)
- Barron Hilton ($2.4 billion)
- Eric and Wendy Schmidt ($1.3 billion)
- Jim Walton ($1.2 billion)
- Thomas Lord ($1.04 billion)
- Stewart and Lynda Resnick ($787 million)
- Bill and Melinda Gates ($589 million)
- Denny Sanford ($533 million)
- Pierre and Pam Omidyar ($470 million)
- John and Laura Arnold ($350 million)
Over the past twenty years of reporting, Warren Buffet has been the most generous American, giving $255 billion since 2000. Two interesting trends over the past twenty years: the number of generous Americans who made their money from tech and finance has greatly increased. Back in 2000, one-fifth of the list of top donors made their money in media and entertainment. Today, only three individuals on the list made their money that way.