Billionaire Warren Buffett tops list of US charity donors in 2023

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual list of the biggest charitable donations from individuals or their foundations in the US totalled more than 3.5 billion dollars (£2.77 billion) in 2023.

Four universities received big gifts in 2023, along with four scientific research institutes and a healthcare system. The other gifts went to a family foundation and a racial justice group.

Eight of the donors are multibillionaires, and their combined net worth is 305.1 billion dollars (£241.6 billion).

Topping the list is a gift from the investment guru Warren Buffett, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at roughly 119 billion dollars (£94.3 billion). He gave 1.5 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class “B” stock valued at 541.5 million dollars (£428.7 million) to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his first wife, who died in 2004.

Mr Buffett created the grantmaker in 1964 to manage the family’s charitable giving, and it remains a family affair. Two of his three children serve on its board, and it is led by his former son-in-law.

The foundation primarily backs women’s reproductive health. It also provides college scholarships for students in Nebraska, where the family is from.

The donation is a special contribution that Mr Buffett announced in November rather than one of the annual contributions he makes to the foundation and several other grantmakers, which are payments toward multibillion-dollar pledges he announced in 2006.

Mr Buffett’s gift is followed on the list by a donation from the mathematician and hedge-fund founder James Simons and his wife, Marilyn. The couple gave 500 million dollars (£396 million) through their Simons Foundation to the State University of New York to support the university’s endowment and to boost scholarships, professorships, research and clinical care.

The Simons, who have an estimated net worth of 30.7 billion (£24.3 billion), have deep ties to the university. James Simons was chairman of its mathematics department from 1968 to 1978, and Marilyn Simons earned two degrees there. They have given the institution nearly 600 million dollars (£475 million) through their foundation over the last 10 years.

Tying for third on the list is a contribution from Ross Brown, the founder of Cryogenic Industries, an industrial equipment manufacturer. In November, Mr Brown gave the biggest gift to science in 2023 when he pledged 400 million dollars (£317 million) to the California Institute of Technology. The money will be used to launch the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences.

Nike co-founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, made a 400 million dollar (£317 million) pledge to the 1803 Fund.

The commitment from the Knights, whose net worth is pegged at 43 billion dollars (£34 billion), will establish Rebuild Albina, an effort to revive the economic and cultural prosperity of Albina, a historic area of Portland, Oregon, that was once a thriving black neighborhood but fell into neglect in the 1970s.

Daniel and Jennifer Gilbert gave 375 million (£297 million) through their Gilbert Family Foundation to Henry Ford Health to build two medical centres to take the fourth spot on the list. Dan Gilbert founded Quicken Loans and is chairman of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The couple’s net worth is estimated at nearly 29 billion dollars (£23 billion).

At number five is a gift from financier Kenneth Griffin, who gave 300 million dollars (£237 million) through his Kenneth C Griffin Charitable Fund to back financial aid and a range of other programs within Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

The Chronicle’s annual rankings are based on the 10 biggest publicly announced gifts. The tally does not include contributions of artwork or gifts from anonymous donors.

In March, the Chronicle will unveil its annual ranking of the 50 biggest donors, a list based on philanthropists’ total contributions in 2023 rather than individual gifts.