Recession Didn’t Halt Big Gifts in 2008: A Look at The Top Gifts of the Year

Even as the economy slipped into recession, America’s wealthiest individuals were giving record sums to charity.

At least 16 individuals made gifts of $100-million or more last year, more people than ever have done so in the 12 years that The Chronicle has been keeping a tally of the biggest charitable commitments announced each year. In 2006, at least 15 people gave that sum, and in 1998, 12 did so.

The total amount of the donations on the 2008 list far outstripped last year’s. They amounted to more than $8-billion, compared with $4.1-billion committed by philanthropists on the list in 2007.

The biggest gift on the 2008 list was a $4.5-billion bequest from James LeVoy Sorenson, an inventor and investor who left the money to his family foundation in Salt Lake City.

The second-largest sum was $1-billion pledged by the financier Peter G. Peterson, co-founder of the Blackstone Group, to his foundation.

Most of the donations on the list went to foundations or colleges and universities. The only gifts that went to another type of organization were pledges of $100-million apiece to the New York Public Library by Stephen A. Schwarzman and by David H. Koch to the New York State Theater, which is the main performance space for the New York City Ballet and New York City Opera.

The Chronicle started keeping the list in 1997, when Ted Turner stunned the world of philanthropy by announcing a pledge of $1-billion to start a foundation to aid United Nations programs.

To learn more about the giving habits of America’s wealthiest individuals, see The Chronicle’s database of donations of $1-million or more. In late January The Chronicle will release its annual list of the 50 individuals who gave the most to charitable causes.