Only 22 people on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans appear on this year’s Philanthropy 50 list. That could be a sign that many of the wealthiest people in America aren’t big givers. But there are important caveats: Some billionaires don’t regularly make the Philanthropy 50 because they donate infrequently in very large amounts. Others may give anonymously or choose not to disclose their charitable giving publicly or to The Chronicle.
These 22 donors gave $3.5 billion in 2016:
| Phil 50 Rank | Donor | Phil 50 Total | Forbes Rank | Net Worth | Percentage of wealth directed to charitable giving in 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil and Penny Knight | $900 million | 18 | $25.5 billion | 3.5 |
| 2 | Michael Bloomberg | $600.1 million | 6 | $45 billion | 1.3 |
| 4 | Paul Allen | $295 million | 21 | $18.9 billion | 1.6 |
| 5 | John and Laura Arnold | $284 million | 232 | $2.9 billion | 9.8 |
| 6 | Larry Ellison | $271.4 million | 5 | $49.3 billion | 0.6 |
| 8 | Pierre and Pam Omidyar | $173 million | 54 | $8.1 billion | 2.1 |
| 9 | Bill and Melinda Gates | $141.4 million | 1 | $81 billion | 0.2 |
| 12 | Phillip and Patricia Frost | $100 million | 134 | $4.1 billion | 2.4 |
| 12 | David Geffen | $100 million | 73 | $6.7 billion | 1.5 |
| 19 | Ronald Perelman | $89.9 million | 33 | $12.2 billion | 0.7 |
| 20 | Sean Parker | $75 million | 290 | $2.4 billion | 3.1 |
| 21 | John and Susan Sobrato | $68.3 million | 83 | $5.9 billion | 1.2 |
| 27 | Walter Scott Jr. | $53.3 million | 150 | $3.8 billion | 1.4 |
| 29 | Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman | $50 million | 222 | $3 billion | 1.7 |
| 29 | Elaine Wynn | $50 million | 361 | $1.9 billion | 2.6 |
| 32 | David Rubenstein | $49.5 million | 290 | $2.4 billion | 2.1 |
| 33 | Richard and Nancy Kinder | $44.1 million | 69 | $7 billion | 0.6 |
| 35 | Robert Smith | $42.45 million | 274 | $2.5 billion | 1.7 |
| 36 | Julian Robertson Jr. | $41.8 million | 174 | $3.6 billion | 1.2 |
| 38 | Marc and Lynne Benioff | $40 million | 150 | $3.8 billion | 1.1 |
| 41 | Joe and Rika Mansueto | $35 million | 321 | $2.2 billion | 1.6 |
| 47 | David Koch | $28 million | 7 | $42 billion | 0.1 |
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