Warren Buffet donation tops 2023 list of largest charitable gifts
The richest Americans collectively gave a total of $3.5 billion in 2023 to universities, scientific research institutes, a health care system, a family foundation and a racial justice group, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the year’s biggest charitable donations.
Warren Buffet, the investment guru with an estimated net worth of $119 billion, topped the list by donating about $541.5 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, in honor of his first wife.
His gift heads a list of the largest donations from individuals or their foundations compiled by the Chronicle, which covers the nonprofit world. Eight of the donors were multibillionaires, with a combined net worth of $305.1 billion.
The second-largest donation came from mathematician and hedge-fund founder James Simons and his wife, Marilyn, who gave $500 million to the endowment of the State University of New York at Stony Brook. James Simons previously taught at Stony Brook and chaired its mathematics department and Marilyn Simons earned her bachelor’s degree and an economics Ph.D. there.
The 1803 Fund got a $400 million boost from Nike cofounder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny. The fund is working to revive Albina, a Portland, Ore., Black neighborhood that was ravaged in the 1970s.
Also giving $400 million was Ross Brown, who pledged the money to launch the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences at the California Institute of Technology, his alma mater. Brown is founder of the industrial equipment manufacturer Cryogenic Industries.
Other top donations included $375 million given by Daniel and Jennifer Gilbert through their Gilbert Family Foundation to Henry Ford Health, which will use it to build two medical centers; $300 million from Citadel hedge fund founder Kenneth Griffin through his Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund to Harvard University for financial aid and other programs; $210 million given by LeukoSite pharmaceuticals founder Timothy Springer to the Institute for Protein Innovation; and a $200 million bequest by scientist and Qualcomm founder Franklin Antonio to the SETI Institute for research into life’s origins.
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