Top 10 Philanthropists In The World

A person who makes an active effort to promote human welfare mostly through the generous act of donating money. The word “philanthropy” means the “love of humanity” and derives from the ancient Greek word “philanthropia”. Philanthropy has been around since ancient civilization in places like Greece, Rome, and the Middle East. An endowment supported Plato’s Academy for 900 years. George Peabody is known as the father of modern philanthropy. His philanthropic work started with endowing libraries and museums in the United States. Philanthropy is more of a long-term strategy compared to charity and is spread out over a number of years.        

Top 10 Philanthropists In The World 

Here are top 10 philanthropists of the century:

1. Jamsetji Tata 

Jamsetji Tata is the founder of Tata Sons and has been number one on the list of philanthropists. Tata began to build his empire in the 1870s. The total estimate of his donations is 102 billion US dollars. The Tata Trusts set up by him are the oldest foundations in India, he founded the foundation in 1892. His donations and contributions to the country were mostly focused on education and healthcare. He was named the greatest philanthropist of the past century by the EdelGive Foundation.

2. Bill Gates and Melinda Gates 

Bill and Melinda Gates’s philanthropic deeds are connected to their foundations which are the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Giving pledge. The goal of they’re foundation is to help people lead a healthy and productive life. The estimated endowment of the foundation is over 50 billion dollars. 

3. Henry Wellcome

Henry Wellcome is a famous drug manufacturer named Burroughs Wellcome & Company with a co-partner Silas Burroughs in 1880. The Wellcome Trust was founded by Wellcome to improve health by supporting scientific research and the study of medicine. The estimate of the trust is up to 38 billion euros. In 1967 Wellcome started focusing on backing individual researchers over building equipment.

4. Howard Hughes

Howard Robard Hughes Jr dabbled in manufacturing and was a motion picture producer, director, and aviation. He obtained enormous wealth and fame from his various due to the role he played as a producer in movies such as Scarface and Hells angels. He started a non-profit medical research organization called the Howard Hughes Medical Institution. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for medical and biological research and spends about 1 million dollars on medical research every year. The annual investment in biomedical research is about 835 million dollars. 

5. Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet aka “the Oracle of Omaha” is a successful business tycoon. Buffet follows the Benjamin Graham School of value investing. He has pledged 99% of his wealth to the Giving Pledge by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. He also started a foundation for his late wife Susan Thompson, he gave her part of the estate to the foundation. 

6. Geroge Soros

George Soros is an American businessman and philanthropist who was born in Hungary. His net fortune is 8.6 billion US dollars, of which he has given more than 32 billion to his Open Society Foundations, earning him the title of “most generous contributor” according to Forbes. Since the 1970s, Mr. Soros has been actively involved in philanthropy. He started by sponsoring the education of black students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and then started funding dissident groups behind the Iron Curtain.

His charitable contributions include encouraging non-violent democratization in former Soviet Union countries. Through his open society foundation and national soros foundation, his efforts were concentrated on central and eastern Europe. Mr. Soros gave $50 million to the Millennium Promise, which is run by economist Jeffersy Sachs, in September 2006 to offer medical, agricultural, and medical assistance for impoverished South African villages. He also had a significant impact on Hungary’s transition from communism to democracy and generously endowed Budapest’s Central European University. More than 60 nations have active initiatives run by his Open Society Foundation.

7. Hans Wilsdrof 

Hans Wilsdrof is a German Businessman and the founder of Rolex and Tudor. He established the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation in 1945 in which he gave 100% of his stake to the Rolex Foundation. Till day the company is controlled by the foundation and donates its money to charitable causes in Switzerland. The foundation supports the music industry and artists in Geneva. 

8. JK Lilly Sr

Josiah Kirby Lilly Sr is a businessman and pharmaceutical industrialist. He supported charitable projects in Indianapolis and in Indiana. He started the Lilly Endowment in 1937 with his sons. The estimated value of the Endowment is 15.4 billion dollars. The endowment has become the largest philanthropic endowment in terms of assets and charitable giving. 

9. John D Rockefeller 

John Rockefeller left his everyday job to follow in the footsteps of Andrew Carnerige who made a fortune in the steel industry and then gave away a chunk of his money to charity. Rockefeller donated more than half of his fortune to educational, scientific, and religious aid through his foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation. He helped fund the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research which is now known as the Rockefeller Unversity. 

10. Edsel Ford 

Edsel Ford was the president of the Ford Motor Company from 1919. He founded the Ford Foundation with his father Henry Ford, which is a private foundation whose goal is to advance human welfare. It was funded by a gift Edsel Ford of 25000 dollars. The Ford Foundation makes grants at its headquarters and ten of its additional international offices. The asset evaluation of the foundation is 12.4 billion US dollars. 

Summary 

In closing, philanthropy is an act of goodwill and the desire to help your fellow human beings. The key role of philanthropy is to help social issues by donating or giving money to charitable organizations, foundations, and trusts. That support different needs and difficulties people face in different walks of life. 

India is one of the top possibilities for receiving numerous donations throughout the year due to its diverse topography and income disparities. The article discusses some of the most philanthropic donations made by the top global philanthropists as well as the advantages these donations have brought about. The Sakal Relief Fund (SRF) is a charity that gathers donations and disburses them to assist the less fortunate, much like these wonderful people. You can go to the SRF website for more details.