FX.co ★ Five most charitable billionaires

George Soros

The 92-year old investor remains the world’s biggest billionaire philanthropist, leading the Forbes’ list for the third year in a row. Over the past 12 months, George Soros has given away more than $18 billion to charity, nearly three times what he’s worth now. Being a staunch advocate for democracy, Soros made most of his donations to organizations defending human rights and the freedom of speech.

Bill Gates

The biggest charitable donation by the founder of Microsoft was a $20 billion donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization founded by Gates and his ex-wife Melinda more than 20 years ago. Currently, the foundation is one of the biggest donors to the World Health Organization. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also focuses on fighting gender inequality, reducing poverty, increasing access to education in third-world countries, and protecting the environment.

Melinda French Gates

The ex-wife of Microsoft’s founder remains committed to their joint charity organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Furthermore, she donates billions of dollars to her Pivotal Ventures organization, which fights gender inequality. In September, Melinda Gates, whose fortune is valued at $6 billion, donated 2 million shares of Canadian National Railway worth more than $220 million to Pivotal Ventures.

MacKenzie Scott

MacKenzie Scott’s net worth has fallen by more than $20 billion over the past 12 months and is now valued at $37 billion due to her philanthropic activities. The ex-wife of Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos gives out large sums of money to charity organizations that are usually overlooked by major philanthropists. Recently, Scott has donated $275 million to Planned Parenthood and more than $280 million to Boys & Girls Club of America, a US organization that provides voluntary after-school programs for young people.

Warren Buffett

Legendary US investor Warren Buffett is fifth on Forbes’ list. He spent more than $4 billion on charity last summer. Buffett made donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as other charity organizations. This was not the first big donation by the Oracle of Omaha. Since 2006, Warren Buffett has given out more than $45 billion to charitable foundations.