Go big
or go home seems to be Warren Buffett's mantra when it comes to philanthropy.
The Berkshire
Hathaway CEO and
legendary investor made the single biggest charitable donation this year,
giving $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of
16.6 million shares of his company, according to Wealth-X's ranking of the 10
largest philanthropic donations of 2014 published on Wednesday.
On Monday, 84-year-old Buffett surpassed
Mexican business mogul Carlos Slim to become the world's second richest person
as shares of Berkshire Hathaway rallied to an all-time high. Forbes said its
real-time ranking of the world's billionaires now estimates Buffett's wealth at
$74.4 billion, about $1.5 billion more than Slim's $72.9 billion. Slim is now
in third place.
Founder
and CEO of GoPro Nicholas Woodman's $497.5 million
donation to Silicon Valley Community Foundation ranked second. The Foundation
connects corporate and individual donors with Bay Area nonprofits, with a focus
on areas such as education, affordable housing and immigrant integration.
HK billionaire brothers
set record
Eight of the top 10 donations of 2014 were
made by American philanthropists. Hong Kong property tycoons Ronnie and Gerald
Chan are the only non-Americans to feature on the list.
The Chan brothers each donated $175 million to
Harvard University's School of Public Health, ranking them in third and fourth
place. The combined $350 million gift was the largest donation in the
University's 378-year history.
In a
rare move for the university, the school was renamed to the Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public Health. There is only one other school within the university
that is named after an individual in modern times, according to the Associate
Press: Harvard Kennedy School, named for John F. Kennedy.
Harvard also received a $150 million donation
from hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin to support financial aid in what was
the fifth largest charitable donation this year.
Universities win big time
The remainder of top 10 donations were also
made to education institutions.
Oregon
Health & Science University received a $100 million gift from Gert Boyle,
chairman of the board for Columbia
Sportswear, the outdoor apparel and equipment manufacturer.
University
of Wisconsin-Madison was gifted a $100 million donation from American
businessman John Morgridge, former chairman of the board of Cisco Systems.
University of Notre Dame received the largest
single donation in the school's history from private equity investor John
"Jay" Jordan, who donated $75 million this year.
Advertising
executive turned investor Edward Meyer gave a $75 million gift to Weill Cornell
Medical College. The donation will expand the medical college's cancer care and
research programs.
Charles Munger, the vice-chairman of
Berkshire Hathaway known as Warren Buffett's right-hand man, was also very much
in the spirit of giving, donating $65 million to University of California Santa
Barbara to support the growth of its theoretical physics department.
Culled from CNBC.
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