Top 5 Philanthropists

Blain Reinkensmeyer

Posted on Tue 8th May, 2007 12:28:42 PM

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Darren at problogger.net is doing a group project with a theme of “Top 5″. I’ve been a reader of Darren’s blog for a few years now, so how could I not participate?! My Top 5 list is of philanthropists, because it related to money and investing.

These are the top 5 philanthropists to me (based on total money):

5. Gordon and Betty Moore (Intel) – Goron cofounded Intel, and with his wife they have done some amazing work. Their main focuses are in environmental conservation and medicine, but also support secondary education. In 2001 they gave a $600 million GIFT to the California Institute of Technology!!

4. Michael and Susan Dell – I own a Dell laptop myself, and support the company as a whole (though there customer service isn’t too great). Anyway, the Dell’s focus is on children (education, medicine, health, etc.) Their foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation in 2006 had assets of $1.2 Billion. Imagine how many kids lives they are going to touch?

3. George Soros - This guy is a machine and is arguably one of the greatest investors of all time. His causes vary and have had a focus on political and social topics versus a specific cause such as medicine. Overall though he has donated more than $3 Billion of his fortune to these causes.

2. Warren Buffett – The greatest investor of all time, Warren has had a reputation of being very frugal and simple. He has lived in the same exact house for who knows how many years in Omaha, Nebraska. In the summer of 2006 though he pledged 83% of his shares of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. How much is that exactly? O, about $44 Billion!

1. Bill and Melinda Gates – These two are machines when it comes to philanthropy, and no one will ever come close to matching their total money they’ve given away. Their foundation is the largest international and domestic charity, and their focus has been on combating the most common and pervasive problems in the world. They have given out numerous grants for vaccine research to tackle illnesses like acute diarrhea and tuberculosis, where children are most often the victims. Give it up to the Gates.