By Abby Schultz

The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual list of the 50 most generous American donors offers something noteworthy: some of the wealthiest people aren't on it.

It isn't necessarily because they don't donate. They may just be keeping it private. "Nobody has to say what they are giving to charity unless they report it to us," said Maria Di Mento, who directs the Philanthropy 50, a project that involves research and and interviews with dozens of nonprofits and donors.

Consider MacKenzie Scott, whose net worth is about $38 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire index as of Wednesday. Scott has stated on her website Yield Giving that she has donated more than $19.25 billion to charity since 2020, but her grants go through donor-advised funds, which aren't required to publicly report gifts. Scott and her representatives won't disclose to the Chronicle how much she donates, Di Mento said.

In fact, only 19 of the wealthiest people in the country -- as measured by the Forbes list of the 400 richest people in America -- showed up on the Chronicle's list.

Michael Bloomberg landed the top spot on the list for the second year in a row. He gave $3.7 billion to several nonprofits last year, including $1 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, to cover tuition and expenses for most medical school students and to expand financial aid for nursing and public-health students.

Worth at least $105 billion as of September, Bloomberg is ranked No. 10 on Forbes list. Collectively, these 19 uber-wealthy donors gave more than $12.3 billion of $16.2 billion overall last year, up 32% from a year ago, the Chronicle said.

Bloomberg is also among 13 of the top philanthropists who have signed the Giving Pledge, a nonbinding promise made by 179 living U.S. individuals and couples to donate at least half their wealth to charity, the Chronicle said. The pledge was created by Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett in 2010.

The list offers new faces, too. Ruth Gottesman came out of nowhere to rank No. 6 with a $1 billion gift offering free tuition to students of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where she was a professor of pediatrics. The gift came from the fortune earned by her late husband, David, a protégé of No. 4 ranked Buffett, who invested early in Berkshire Hathaway.

Write to Abby Schultz at abby.schultz@barrons.com

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March 05, 2025 14:38 ET (19:38 GMT)

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