Superwealthy Donors From America’s Modern Families

The Chronicle took a look at some major philanthropists who are part of the shift toward nontraditional families, including more unmarried and childless people and more households with same-sex couples.

Paul Allen

Wealth source: Co-founded Microsoft and founded investment company Vulcan Capital

Family ties: Never married; no children

Total personal charitable giving: $2.3 billion

Foundation: Founded the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation in 1988; it has awarded $650 million to date.

Appearances on the Philanthropy 50 (The Chronicle’s annual list of America’s most generous donors): 15

Major recipients and causes: Allen Institute for Brain Science, Allen Institute for Cell Science, environmental causes, and arts and culture in the Pacific Northwest

Tim Gill

Wealth source: Founded the software company Quark

Family ties: Married his partner Scott Miller in 2009; no children

Total personal charitable giving: More than $300 million

Foundation: Started the Gill Foundation in 1994; it has awarded more than $167.8 million to date.

Major recipients and causes: Freedom for All Americans Education Fund, Gay and Lesbian Fund for Colorado, efforts to promote same-sex marriage

Lyda Hill

Wealth source: Granddaughter of oilman H.L. Hunt and founder of a venture-capital firm

Family ties: Never married; no children

Total personal charitable giving: More than $300 million

Foundation: She has a small foundation but primarily gives directly from her own wealth.

Philanthropy 50 appearances: 1

Major recipients: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Moon Shots Program, Feeding Texas Food Access Project, Meadows Mental Health Project

Jon Stryker

Wealth source: Heir to the Stryker Corporation medical-products fortune

Family ties: Married Slobodan Randjelovic in 2016; has two children from a previous marriage

Total personal charitable giving: More than $545.9 million

Foundation: Founded the Arcus Foundation in 2000; it has awarded approximately $354.3 million to date.

Philanthropy 50 appearances: 8

Major recipients: Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College, Global Trans Initiative, Save the Chimps

Peter Thiel

Wealth source: Founded several investment firms and the software company Palantir Technologies; co-founded PayPal; was Facebook’s first outside investor

Family ties: Openly gay; never married

Total personal charitable giving: More than $71.7 million

Foundation: He started the Thiel Foundation in 2006; it awarded nearly $42.6 million from 2006 to 2015.

Major recipients: Thiel Fellowship; Breakout Labs, which backs unusual science companies; Imitatio, which supports research on and development of mimetic theory, a type of social science developed by French philosopher and literary critic René Girard.

Oprah Winfrey

Wealth source: Media and entertainment

Family ties: Never married; no children

Total personal charitable giving: Nearly $316.9 million

Foundation: Founded the Oprah Winfrey Foundation in 1995; it awarded $84 million from 1998 to 2011.

Philanthropy 50 appearances: 6

Major recipients: Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls South Africa, Oprah Winfrey Foundation, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture