This year’s Philanthropy 50 ranks tops donors by their giving in 2022. Here’s what some of these philanthropists plan to do in 2023 and beyond.
Bill Gates gave $5.1 billion to his foundation last year to take the top spot in the Chronicle’s 23rd annual ranking of America’s biggest donors. Read more:
Bill Gates
Ranking: No. 1
2022 giving: $5.1 billion
Net worth (Forbes estimate): $106 billion
Together with his former wife, Melinda French Gates, the Microsoft mogul has poured at least $40 billion into their foundation since it launched two decades ago. Gates says he has no intention of slowing down. “Although I don’t care where I rank on the list of the world’s richest people, I do know that as I succeed in giving, I will drop down and eventually off the list altogether,” Gates wrote in December.
The foundation says that its annual grant making will climb from about $6 billion to $9 billion by 2026. Gates told Forbes in September that the foundation is likely to finish its work over the next 25 years.
Harry and Linda Fath
Ranking: No. 11
2022 giving: $275.3 million
Net worth: not available
The Cincinnati couple — loyal supporters of their hometown nonprofits and Catholic education — have given away more than a half-billion dollars since 2017. “I felt like I needed to get at least half of what I think we’re worth out the door,” says Harry, who’s 81.
Property values soared during the pandemic, which Harry says lifted the assets of his real-estate development business. With the market now dropping, a similar giving spree isn’t likely in 2023. “I’m taking a break,” he says.
Brian Chesky
Ranking: No. 21
2022 giving: $103.3 million
Net worth: $8.9 billion
The 41-year-old Airbnb co-founder and CEO says he’s at the beginning of his philanthropy journey. For now, he’s focused on the goals he outlined in his letter when he signed the Giving Pledge in 2016: helping high-potential young people realize that potential. “You can have a lot of impact on someone just by showing them what is possible,” he wrote. “If you were never exposed to something, you cannot dream of becoming it.”
His 2022 gift of $100 million to the Obama Foundation for college scholarships includes a $10,000 stipend and Airbnb travel credit to pursue a summer work-travel experience. It also features $2,000 of Airbnb credit for each of the 10 years after graduation. “I want to build this muscle where they’re constantly seeing the world,” Chesky says.
While this is Chesky’s first nine-figure gift — and his first appearance on the Philanthropy 50 — his Airbnb contract includes stock awards that he estimates could be $100 million each time the company’s stock price reaches one of 10 milestones. “I pledge to give away all those” to charitable, philanthropic, and community causes, he says.
Craig Newmark
Ranking: No. 25
2022 giving: $81 million
Net worth: not available
Upon turning 70 last year, the Craigslist founder created a 501(c)(4) in 2022 to which he donated his stake in the company and most of his other income-generating assets. He says he’s already given away about half of his wealth — he’s fallen off various lists of billionaires — and is now committed to giving away everything.
“I’ll keep enough for a few extravagant habits, like I buy all the books I want, and I have a bunch of streaming services catering to my pedestrian tastes,” Newmark joked in a December note to organizations that he supports.
“I’m in this for the long run,” he told the Chronicle in an interview. “The numbers that I have available [for charitable causes] will expand significantly, but I have to decide how this will work out over the next 10 or 20 years.”
Melanie and Richard Lundquist
Ranking: No. 31
2022 giving: $62.8 million
Net worth: not available
The Los Angeles couple, who made their fortune in commercial real-estate development, appear to be taking their philanthropy in new directions after focusing for years on health care and K-12 education reform. Their 2022 $50 million gift to McPherson College in Kansas is their first major contribution outside California and to higher education.
“We are transitioning beyond our support of K-12 public education and are hoping this gift spurs more support of well-run small liberal-arts colleges in the U.S.,” Richard told McPherson last year.
Adrienne Arsht
Ranking: No. 32
2022 giving: $62.4 million
Net worth: not available
The lawyer and business executive focuses significant giving on themes related to resilience, an interest that dates to the 1973 suicide of her sister, a foreign-service officer. (Arsht believes she was traumatized when the Soviet KGB detained and questioned her about espionage allegations.) Arsht has studied resilience of all kinds — in Navy SEALs, in the body’s immune system, in animals — and last year gave two related gifts: $10 million to establish the Arsht Community-Based Resilience Solutions Initiative at the Smithsonian and $10 million to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for performances that highlight resilience.
Arsht, who previously earned a spot on the Philanthropy 50 in 2008 with $43 million in donations, says she typically draws cash for contributions from investment income. Last year, however, her $64 million in giving was fueled in part by what she calls “a windfall” — the $107 million sale of her Miami two-home estate to Chicago hedge-fund manager Kenneth Griffin.
“I have no specific plans to give noticeably more, but I feel that with this property sale and what it entails, I can give a little more while I’m alive,” says Arsht, 81.
Karen and Rob Hale
Ranking: No. 36
2022 giving: $58.5 million
Net worth: $5 billion
After years of donating to well-endowed institutions, the Boston-area billionaires went on a $1-million-a-week giving spree last year, handing out $52 million to 75 mostly small nonprofits. Going forward, they will include support for such groups in their philanthropy, says the 56-year-old Rob, co-founder and CEO of Granite Telecommunications.
“This is more personal and more fun,” he says. “We’ve enjoyed it so much that it’ll be part of the fabric of our giving for years to come.”
Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang
Ranking: tied at No. 41
2022 giving: $50 million
Net worth: $12.9 billion
The couple is making their debut on the Philanthropy 50, though their $50 million gift to Oregon State last year follows a $30 million pledge to Stanford in 2008 to build an engineering school. Jen-Hsun is CEO and co-founder of Nvidia, a Silicon Valley graphics chip maker.
Supporting the development of young engineers and scientists amplifies the impact of their giving by training problem-solvers of the future, Jen-Hsun says. “Who knows what the next generation will do?”
The two started a foundation about 15 years ago to help learn how to recognize opportunities in which their interests intersect with the chance for expanded impact. “The stars have to align,” Jen-Hsun says.
Gordon and Joyce Davis
Ranking: No. 45
2022 giving: $45.7 million
Net worth: not available
The West Texas couple launched a foundation in 2020 that’s funding groups like the local Boys & Girls Club, a Christian retreat center, and animal-rescue organizations. They have also endowed professorships at several universities to honor experts, and Gordon’s mentors in agriculture and meat science.
In 2021, Gordon sold iCEV, the company he founded in 1994, leading to the $44 million gift to Texas Tech that put them on the Philanthropy 50. At 77, he says he’s not inclined to launch another big business venture.
“I started out at $1 an hour when I was 12 years old, and I chased that money and chased it,” he says. “I really want to do philanthropy now and build the foundation.” Expect the grant maker to eventually reach nine figures, he says.
