The 2020 Philanthropy 50: Where They Live, Where They Give, and More

Find out more about America’s 50 biggest donors: their ages, source of wealth, where they reside, and who their beneficiaries are . Plus, see the entire Philanthropy 50 report featuring our analysis of the list and giving trends among megadonors.

Big Gifts to Foundations

Foundations received 39.7 percent of the $15.8 billion that the Philanthropy 50 gave away.

!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}})}();

Heirs to Family Fortunes Gave Big

The Philanthropy 50 includes five donors who inherited their wealth and who collectively gave nearly $3.9 billion in 2019; that’s about 24 percent of the total contributed by all donors on the list.

!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}})}();

From Youngest to Oldest

Priscilla Chan and Nicole Shanahan, both age 34, are tied for the youngest on the list, and Sidney Kimmel is the oldest living donor on the list. The median age is 69. The number of individual living donors adds up to 70 because some are couples. Not all donors disclosed their age.

!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}})}();

Geographic Breakdown

33 states have no donors on the list.

!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}})}();

!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var e in a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-“+e)||document.querySelector(“iframe[src*='”+e+”‘]”);t&&(t.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][e]+”px”)}})}();