MOST CHARITABLE INDIVIDUALS OF 2017
The top givers of 2017 were tech’s biggest innovators
Bill and Melinda Gates [WA]
Technology
$4.780B
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan [CA]
Technology
$2.019B
Chan Zuckerberg Foundation; Chan Zuckerberg Donor Advised Fund
Michael and Susan Dell [TX]
Technology
$1B
Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
The late Henry Hillman [PA]
Investments
$850M
Hillman Family Foundation
Michael Bloomberg [NY]
Media
$702M
Arts, education, environment, public-health groups; improving city governments around the world
The late Florence Irving [NY]
Food & Beverage
$680M
Columbia University; NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Metropolitan Museum of Art
Charles Butt [TX]
Retail
$290
Holdsworth Center; Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation; and other groups
John and Laura Arnold [TX]
Energy, Finance
$280M
Laura and John Arnold Foundation and other groups
Pierre and Pam Omidyar [NV, HI]
Technology
$257.5M
Omidyar Network; Humanity United; Democracy Fund; First Look Media; and HopeLab
Roy and Diana Vagelos [NJ]
Pharmaceuticals
$250M
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
15. David Geffen [CA]
Entertainment
$150M
LACMA
30. Richard and Melanie Lundquist
Real Estate
$75M
Partnerships for LA Schools; Torrance Memorial Medical Center
Bold: Based in LA or NYC; Source: Forbes
LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK DONATE $30M TO THE HAMMER MUSEUM
One of philanthropy’s power couples, Lynda and Stewart Resnick, donated $30M to the Hammer Museum for a renovation of the museum building, which will be renamed in their honor. The gift, the largest in the Hammer’s history, is part of a $180M capital campaign the museum launched last year for an expansion and transformation, including refurbishment of its galleries. The museum will keep the Hammer name but its building will now be called the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Cultural Center.
hammer.ucla.edu
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG GIVES $1.8B TO JOHNS HOPKINS
In November, former Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg gifted $1.8B to John Hopkins University, making the largest donation ever to a single university. According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, which made the announcement, the gift will be allocated exclusively to undergraduate financial aid and recruitment, assisting low- and moderate-income students who wish to attend the university without worrying about the cost. In an essay for The New York Times, Bloomberg wrote, “America is at its best when we reward people based on the quality of their work, not the size of their pocketbook.”
bloomberg.org
AMAZON’S JEFF BEZOS AND WIFE MACKENZIE BEZOS LAUNCH BILLION-DOLLAR HOMELESSNESS FUND
After claiming the title of wealthiest man in modern world history, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, launched the Bezos Day One Fund to help the homelessness crisis that is affecting thousands in Los Angeles and many other cities. The Bezos family has committed $2B toward the project, which will be split between the Day 1 Families Fund and Day 1 Academics Fund, set to help create a network of nonprofit preschools in low-income communities to promote education and academics in underserved neighborhoods.
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY RECEIVES $12M DONATION FROM PHILANTHROPIST LEONARD POLONSKY
Leonard Polonsky, founder of the London-based Polonsky Foundation, has given the New York Public Library $12M to establish a permanent exhibition featuring rotating treasures from the library’s more than 46 milion research items, including manuscripts, rare books, prints, photographs, films, and recordings. The Polonsky Exhibition of the New York Public Library’s Treasures, scheduled for debut in 2020, will allow visitors to explore the expansive, 6,400 sq. ft. exhibition space on the first level of the library’s emblematic main building at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue.
nypl.org
THE CLIMATE CHANGE BATTLE GETS 29 ALLIES
Over the next five years, 29 philanthropies, including New York City’s Bloomberg Philanthropies and Rockefeller Brothers Fund, will donate more than $4B to combat climate change. The unprecedented financial pledge was announced at the Global Action Climate Summit in San Francisco in September. The investment will support an array of strategies, focusing on five key areas: healthy energy systems, inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities, ocean stewardship, and transformative climate investments. Co-founder of the Sea Change Foundation (a participating philanthropy) Nat Simon spoke at the summit, saying how in the very near future, “together we’ll need to invest billions more.”
selectra.co.uk
THE LAWRENCE J. ELLISON INSTITUTE FOR TRANSFORMATIVE MEDICINE OF USC DEBUTS IN APRIL 2019
Oracle co-founder Lawrence J. Ellison has funded the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC, debuting in April 2019 at Exposition Boulevard near Bundy Drive. With the tech mogul’s monumental donation of $200M, USC will launch this hub for interdisciplinary research, aiming to find new and innovative ways to prevent and treat cancer.
ellison.usc.edu
ACTIVIST.CO PARTNERS WITH CSQ VISIONARY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP HONORING HIS LATE, GREAT FATHER
Selema “Sal” Masekela, one of CSQ’s former Visionaries in Sports & Entertainment—and son of the late, world-renowned musician, bandleader, and defiant political voice Hugh Masekela—and his management company, Activist Artists Management, have partnered with innovative management company Activist.co to establish the Hugh Masekela Heritage Foundation Scholarship. The scholarship will go to an undergraduate jazz trumpet student at the Manhattan School of Music in financial need. Ths scholarship honors Hugh, who attended the Manhattan School of Music himself after being exiled from South Africa in 1960. The visionary was able to return to South Africa in 2010 to receive the country’s highest honor, the Order of Ikhamanga, from former South African President Jacob Zuma.
activist.co
CORPORATIONS DONATING TO THE CAUSE
A listing of major companies giving to causes closest to their core values
Amgen
LA
$500K
California wildfire relief
Goldman Sachs Group
NYC
$280M
Charitable causes; 10,000 Women
IKEA
Netherlands
$351M
Battling climate Change
JP Morgan Chase
NYC
$500M
AdvancingCities Initiative
NFL
NYC
$15M
Concussion studies
Pfizer
NYC
$210M
Health-related causes; International Trachoma Initative
Starbucks
Seattle, WA
$30M
Recyclable coffee cups; Supporting coffee farmers
Source: Business Insider; Philanthropy News Digest
