NEW YORK, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Warren Buffett jumps two spots to No.1 on BusinessWeek's 2006 ranking of "The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists." Buffett, the world's second-richest man, announced this year a planned $31 billion transfer of wealth to the foundation of the world's richest man, Buffett friend and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates. Bill and Melinda Gates retain the No.2 spot for the second year.
Joining Gates and Buffett at the top of BusinessWeek's annual list of "The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists" are two new names, former Golden West Financial Corp. co-CEOs Herbert and Marion Sandler, and businessman Bernard Osher, Marion's brother and an early backer of Golden West. The Sandlers built the Oakland (Calif.)-based company into the nation's second-largest savings and loan before merging it with Wachovia Corp. in a $24 billion deal announced in May. In June, the Sandlers reported donations of Golden West stock worth some $1.3 billion to unidentified charities; Osher's given some $723 million to charity so far this year.
Such mammoth gifts made it harder to get on BusinessWeek's list. The bar jumped to $157 million in giving over the past five years, up from $120 million last year. Eleven new names made it on board BusinessWeek's ranking, with more money coming from fortunes made in the hedge fund and energy world. Giving to global causes was up, and big money went to promote research for disorders and diseases where donors have a personal connection.
BusinessWeek's special report, "The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists," is in the Nov. 27th issue on newsstands November 20th. Expanded content, including an interactive database, profiles of the top philanthropists, and methodology is available online at http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/philanthropy.
"The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists"
2002-06 2002-06
Given or Given or
Pledged Pledged
Rank Name (MILLIONS) Rank Name (MILLIONS)
1 Warren Buffett 40,612 26 Robert Meyerhoff 304
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Real estate developer
2 Bill and Melinda Gates 3,350 27 Paul Allen 287
Microsoft co-founder Microsoft co-founder
3 George Soros 2,066 28 Thomas Monaghan 283
Investor Domino's Pizza founder
4 Gordon and Betty Moore 2,049 29 T. Boone Pickens 270
Intel co-founder Energy and investing
5 Herbert and Marion Sandler 1,379 30 Dawn Greene 260
Golden West co-founders Widow of lawyer Jerome
Greene
6 Eli and Edythe Broad 1,378 31 James Simons 257
SunAmerica, KB Home founder Investor
7 Walton Family 1,250 32 Oprah Winfrey 251
Family of Wal-Mart founder Harpo chairman
8 Donald Bren 935 33 Lewis and Dorothy Cullman 250
Real estate developer Leveraged buyouts
9 Bernard Osher 805 34 Frances Comer 246
Banking, investments Widow of Lands' End founder
Gary Comer
10 Alfred Mann 698 35 David and Cheryl Duffield 246
Medical devices PeopleSoft co-founder
11 Michael and Susan Dell 674 36 Ira and Mary Lou Fulton 234
Dell founder Fulton Homes CEO
12 George Kaiser 639 37 Frank and Jane Batten
Oil and gas, banking, Landmark Comm. founder 228
real estate
13 Ruth Lilly 560 38 David Geffen 211
Eli Lilly heiress DreamWorks co-founder
14 David Rockefeller 550 39 Larry Ellison 210
Standard Oil heir, banking Oracle CEO
15 Michael Bloomberg 550 40 Peter Lewis 210
Bloomberg founder, NYC mayor Progressive chairman
16 John Templeton 511 41 William and Alice Goodwin 208
Investor AMF Bowling chairman
17 Veronica Atkins 500 42 George Lucas 203
Widow of Dr. Robert Atkins Lucasfilm founder
18 Jeff Skoll 486 43 Marguerite Hoffman 197
Founding president of eBay Widow of investor Robert
Hoffman
19 Pierre and Pam Omidyar 453 44 John Kluge 196
eBay chairman and founder Metromedia founder
20 Robert Wilson 449 45 H.F. and Marguerite Lenfest 191
Investor Former Suburban Cable owner
21 Irwin and Joan Jacobs 425 46 Leo and Kay Drey 180
Qualcomm co-founder Schram Glass heir,
silviculture
22 Ted Turner 423 47 Charles and Helen Schwab 167
CNN founder Charles Schwab founder
23 Kirk Kerkorian 419 48 Bernard Gordon 160
Investor Analogic, NeuroLogica
co-founder
24 Shelby White 340 49 T. Denny Sanford 159
Widow of investor Leon Levy Banking and credit cards
25 Bernard Marcus 317 50 Dan Duncan 157
Home Depot co-founder Energy
