12 Millionaires & Billionaires Who Give Away Money (2020)

Many rich people of today’s society have felt that they could make major social and psychological changes amongst the middle and lower classes. Millionaires around the world have created foundations and charitable organizations to help those who are in need. There are many factors that make a man rich, for example; hard work, determination, intelligence and a lot of the times, luck. Whatever it may be, several millionaires have been generous enough to give back. In this article, we’ll discuss 12 wealthy Millionaires & Billionaires who give away money for the betterment of lives.

12 Millionaires & Billionaires Who Give Away Money

The following list shows some of the most generous wealthy people who have given away money. They have given up a large portion of their wealth to improve education, quality of life, and the health of people around the world. There are obvious Billionaires who give away money such as Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos, but we’ve decided to focus more on those who are lesser-known but have made major impacts by donating money.

1. Chuck Feeney

Chuck Feeney is an Irish-American businessman and philanthropist. In his early career, he made much of his fortune through his role as the co-founder of Duty-Free Shoppers Group. A company that essentially introduced the concept of duty-free shopping. It is said Chuck Feeney has donated over $8 billion dollars over the course of his life. He is the proud owner of The Atlantic Philanthropies which is one of the largest foundations in the world.

2. Goerge Kaiser

George Kaiser is the Chairman at BOK (Bank of Oklahoma) and has a current net worth of over 5.6 billion dollars. Kaiser began his career when he took over his family’s Kaiser-Francis Oil Company. As his wealth grew, he bought BOK for 60 million USD. George Kaiser has been a tremendous influence and figure in childhood education, donating more than $4 billion USD to charitable foundations.

3. Stephen M. Ross

Stephen M. Ross is an American businessman and is the chairman and founder of a global real estate firm known as The Related Companies which was established in 1972. According to Forbes, he has a net worth of nearly $7.7 billion dollars. Ross was known for his lifetime contributions towards university education. For example, he donated nearly $378 million USD to UM’s (University of Michigan) research facilities. Likewise, much of the donations went towards career and junior development.

4. Paul Gardner Allen

Paul Allen was an American businessman who was mostly known for his tremendous efforts in co-founding Microsoft with Bill Gates. He was also well-known for his role as a philanthropist and development of research centers at several universities. Paul Allen has donated $500 million dollars to the Institute of Brain Science and provided $30 million dollars to the development of SETI’S Allen Telescope Array. Moreover, Allen has donated an upwards of $50 million dollars to preserve endangered species and the environment.

5. Hasso Plattner

Hasso Plattner is a German businessman and founder of SAP SE, a multinational software company. It is estimated that his net worth sits at around $13 billion. In 2003, he donated over 6 million euros to the Isombululo program for the treatment of HIV/AIDS and had saved nearly 360,000 lives. Moreover, he had contributed more than 20 million euros for the reconstruction of damaged structures in World War II. In other words, this donation is regarded as the largest by a single German individual.

6. Hansjorg Wyss

Hansjorg Wyss is a Swiss entrepreneur and founder of Synthes USA and currently has a net worth of $5.6 billion. The Wyss Foundations has donated more than $350 to environmental protections. Wyss has also pledged to the long-term protection of the environment by contributing nearly $1 billion USD over the course of 10 years.

7. Gordon And Betty Moore

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is an organization focused on supporting scientific discovery, improving healthcare and preserving the environment. At the moment, Gord Moore’s net worth is reported to be nearly $12 billion USD. Both he and his wife have donated more than $1 billion USD for funded projects in areas such as Astronomy, Biology, Data Science, and research institutions.

8. Thomas Denny Sanford

T. Denny Sanford is an American businessman, founder, and owner of First Premier Bank. Sanford has stated that he will give away his entire fortune that he has made over his entire lifetime. As of 2018, he has donated over $1 billion USD, which is about half of his current net worth. His major contributions are towards health-care institutions and hospitals.

9. Elton John

Elton John is an English singer, pianist, and composer. Aside from his huge success in the music industry (he has sold over 300 million records), he has taken part in numerous philanthropic activities. In one year alone he had donated more than $43 million USD to organizations around the world. He also has his very own Elton John AIDS foundations which raised more than $125 million USD.

10. Bill Gates

Bill Gates is without-doubt a well-known figure for co-founding and being the CEO at Microsoft Corporation till 2014. His foundation is currently listed as the world’s largest charitable foundation. It is said Bill and Melinda have donated a whopping $28 billion to charity. Aside from the foundation, Bill Gates has made several personal donations to educations institutions and research laboratories.

11. Roger Federer

Roger Federer’s name has been etched in tennis history as the greatest of all time. Other than being the most magical player to set foot on-court, he has made numerous donations through his Roger Feder Foundation. For example, he has donated more than $1 million dollars for the Coronavirus relief. Moreover, his ‘Match for Africa’, which was partnered with Bill gates raised more than $4 million dollars for his foundation.

12. John D. Rockefeller

John Rockefeller was the founder of Standard Oil Company and consequently became one of the richest men in the modern era. Rockefeller has donated more than $500 million dollars to educational institutions and the development of research facilities. Today, he is regarded as one of the most accomplished philanthropist and self-made billionaires to have ever lived.

Final Words:

Those were a few of the Millionaires who give away money, but there are hundreds of Millionaires out there that have also donated a large amount of their money. Whether it be personally or through their foundations. The generosity of some of the men and women listed above have developed the advanced educational and healthcare systems we have today. Moreover, they have saved the lives of millions through charitable fundraisers.