2019 was seen to be a good year in many aspects and one such tale was that of the kind-hearted richies contributing to the world. Yes, the past year saw many billionaires and millionaires sharing their fortunes and contributing money towards various philanthropic activities.
These were some of the big donations made this year:
1) The IT donor
Big IT Giant Wipro saw its chairman Azim Premji carry forward his pledge to donate half of his wealth this year as well. He donated to Azim Premji foundation an amount of $7.6 billion via a stake, without even batting an eyelid.
2) Investing his way
Warren Buffet took the year as an opportunity to donate $3.6 billion stock of Berkshire Hathaway to multiple foundations across the US. His donation went and covered five major foundations, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Sherwood Foundation, Howard G Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation.
3) The Snack world
Owner of company Wonderful Co and various brands like Fiji Water, Stewart, and Lynda Resnick contributed $750 million towards climate change research. With their estimated worth of $9 billion, the nut and fruit company runners have donated a huge proportionate sum of their fortune.
4) The Banker at work
The founder of First premier bank and well-known philanthropist, T Denny Sanford has once again donated to National University in San Diego, a nonprofit university that supports education for veterans, family runners or working individuals. He had earlier donated $150 billion to this cause and has given a $350 donation this year.
5) Another IT story
InterSystems, founded by Terry Ragon, saw its founder and his wife donate $200 million in support of building a vaccine research center at the Massachusetts General Hospital. With a net worth of $2.6 billion, the Ragon’s are very thoughtful indeed.
6) Financing via the finance
If you are an active reader about the financial sector, you must have heard of private equity firms, Blackstone. Its co-founder, Schwarzman donated a sum of $188 million to support Oxford University.
7) A life’s work
In 2018, the world lost billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr. who founded the Huntsman Corporation. His family continues to carry his name forward and recently donated $150 million to fund mental health research at the University of Utah and rural Utah residents. However, the huge sum will be distributed over a period of the next 15 years.
8) Hedging it well
Citadel, a hedge fund company founded by Kenneth Griffin, saw its owner donate $125 million towards the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Infact, due to this large donation, the Museum will be renamed as Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
9) Going the Swiss way
Hansjoerg Wyss donated a sum of $131 million towards the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard. This is a step towards an entire $1 billion donation over the entire decade as planned by the swiss billionaire.
10) A new addition
Sandy and Joan Weill joined the philanthropist list by pledging to donate $109 towards a research initiative like UC San Francisco for conducting research on brain diseases.
Also Read: How Azim Premji Went From 2nd Richest Person In India To 17th in One Year
