Gates and Li Ka Shing Top List of Big Foundations Created by Wealthy People

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation tops a new list of the world’s 10 largest private foundations, according to a new study of philanthropies led by ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

To qualify for an ultra-high-net-worth designation, an individual must have investable assets of at least $30 million, excluding their personal assets and property (such as a primary residence).

The Gates foundation’s assets currently stand at $43.5 billion, according to The Chronicle’s recent report on U.S. foundations.

Mr. Gates’s net worth is an estimated $85.7 billion, according to a report by Wealth-X, which produced the list of the world’s richest foundations and provides information on the wealthy to financial-services companies, nonprofits, and other organizations.

Next on the list is the Li Ka Shing Foundation, with $8.1 billion in assets. Mr. Li is a billionaire investor in Hong Kong who is chairman of Hutchison Whampoa, an international technology company. His personal wealth is $22.1 billion, according to Wealth-X.

$560 Billion in Assets

Taken together, the foundations on the list have assets of $83.1 billion, or the equivalent of 29.7 percent of the combined net worth of the philanthropists who established them, the report says.

The study says more than 5,000 private foundations have been started by ultra-high-net-worth people around the globe. Collectively, these philanthropies have assets of $560 billion, and in the past year, they have given out a total of $45 billion, or about 8 percent of their total assets, according to the study.

Others on the list include the Carlos Slim Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, among others.