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21 Americans donated more than $100M each in 2006
mongabay.com
February 27, 2007


Elite-level philanthropy hit record in 2006, with 21 individual donations exceeding $100 million in the United States, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, which compiles a yearly list of the most generous givers. In total the 21 donors pledged some $48.5 billion to charitable causes.

Leading the way was Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett who pledged to give away stock worth $43.5 billion to several groups, including more than $30 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2006 Buffet paid out $1.9 billion of his pledge.

Following Buffet were Herbert M. and Marion O. Sandler who gave away $1.3 billion of their fortune earned from finance and investments, Bernard A. and Barbro Osher ($723.2 million), Jim Joseph ($500-million bequest), and Hector Guy and Doris Di Stefano ($264-million bequest). New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was number 8 on the list with $165-million in donations (number 9 if you look at the amount pledged but not paid out in 2006).

The number large donations reflects both the rapidly rising wealth among the richest Americans -- there are now 371 billionaires in the U.S. -- and the current trend for highly visible giving. In recent years, generous donations from Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have helped spawn greater interest in high-level charitable giving, reaching the point where "venture philanthorpy" and "social entrepreneurship" panels are seeing standing-room only crowds in places like Silicon Valley. Publicly-traded Google Inc. has pledged millions of dollars towards charitable efforts through its Google.org program.

Encouragement has also come from the halls of academia: Jeffrey Sachs, a prominent American economist who is director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, has suggested that a tax on the upper echelon of rich Americans could end extreme global poverty.

21 who pledged $100 in 2006 (source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy)

Rank	Donors	Amount pledged	Amount paid
1	Warren E. Buffett	$43,500.00	$1.9-billion
2	Herbert M. and Marion O. Sandler	$1,300.00	$1.3-billion
3	Bernard A. and Barbro Osher	$723.20	$723.2-million
4	Jim Joseph	$500	$500-million
5	Hector Guy and Doris Di Stefano	$264	$264-million
6	David Rockefeller	$252	$9.5-million
7	Mary Joan Palevsky	$212.80	$212.8-million
8	T. Boone Pickens	$171.50	$171.5-million
9	Michael R. Bloomberg	$165	$165-million
10	Lorry I. Lokey	$163	$163-million
11	Robert W. Wilson	$147.20	$14.8-million
12	Arthur Zankel	$141	$141-million
13	Eli and Edythe L. Broad	$137.60	$137.6-million
14	Dan L. Duncan family	$115	n/a
15	Joseph Neubauer	$114.60	$114.6-million
16	Philip H. Knight	$105	n/a
17	Ronald P. Stanton	$100	$25,000
18	John Arrillaga	$100	$100-million
18	Lawrence J. Ellison	$100	$5-million
18	Henry M. and Wendy J. Paulson	$100	$100-million
18	Mortimer B. Zuckerman	$100	n/a

(source: The Chronicle of Philanthropy)

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