▲Also known as the Queen of Mean, this businesswoman left a large donation in her will. She passed away in 2007.

▲She left all her assets (around US$5 billion) to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The charity works in conservation and healthcare.

▲Stanley is the founder of Duquesne Capital Management, as well as the Druckenmiller Foundation. Along with his wife Fiona, Stanley made the biggest donation of 2009.

▲They donated a combined amount of US$705 million to their foundation, which works in fields like medical research and ending poverty.

▲One of the most well-known billionaires in the world, Warren Buffett made three huge donations in 2012.

▲He donated stocks worth over US$1 billion to three charitable organizations that are run by his children.

▲The largest donation of 2011 came from William S. Dietrich II, who donated US$265 million to Carnegie Mellon University.

▲Dietrich, the former chairman of Dietrich Industries, also donated US$125 million to the University of Pittsburgh in 2011.

▲The CEO of Facebook made two huge donations to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in 2011 and 2012.

▲He donated 18 million shares of Facebook twice, with a combined value of around US$992 million. In October 2019, Facebook also pledged US$1 billion towards affordable housing in Silicon Valley.

▲Santikos was best known as the head of Santikos Theatres, which was founded by his father, Louis Santikos. When he died in December 2014, Santikos donated approximately US$605 million to the San Antonio Area Foundation, which went towards founding the John L. Santikos Charitable Foundation.

▲We have to mention, of course, Bill Gates, who made history with former wife Melinda in 2000 when they established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

▲As of 2013, the Microsoft founder had donated around US$28 billion towards the organization.

▲Wilson was the owner of NFL team the Buffalo Bills.

▲Upon his death, Wilson (left) donated US$1 billion to the Ralph Wilson Foundation, which invests money in various organizations and communities.

▲Nick Woodman made a killing off GoPro, the camera company he founded. Like Zuckerberg, Woodman made a hefty donation to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

▲In 2014, he donated US$500 million to the organization, with his philanthropy efforts being recognized at the San Francisco Gala.

▲CEO of investment firm Citadel, Kenneth Griffin is one rich man. Back in 2014, he made a huge donation to Harvard University.

▲It's reported that Griffin donated US$150 million to the university in order to assist the financial aid program.

▲Ross is a revered real estate developer, and majority owner of the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

▲In 2013, he donated US$200 million to the construction of the Stephen M. Ross Athletic Campus Athletics South Competition and Performance Project.

▲Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, made a joint donation of stock to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2017.

▲The donation was worth around US$1.9 billion, and went towards efforts to create equal opportunity in health, education, and scientific research.

▲In 2016, Nicolas Berggruen, founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, pledged US$500 million to the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles.

▲Brothers Ronnie and Gerald Chan are Hong Kong-based real estate tycoons, who both made huge contributions to Harvard University. In 2014, the pair pledged US$350 million, one of the largest donations ever made to the university.

▲The biggest donation of 2010 was from an anonymous person. They donated US$200 million to Baylor University, where they graduated.

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The money is intended to go towards medical research in the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Social Work, as well as other programs at the university.

▲The novelist and philanthropist pledged to donate half of her immense fortune (estimated at over US$35 billion) to charity, signing The Giving Pledge campaign on May 28, 2019. She's on track to donate more than Bill Gates!

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Already known for her charitable efforts through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates committed US$1 billion in October 2019 to promote gender equality through her company, Pivotal Ventures.

▲"Over the next ten years, I am committing $1 billion to expanding women’s power and influence in the United States," wrote Melinda Gates. "I want to see more women in the position to make decisions, control resources, and shape policies and perspectives."

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Bezos previously pledged US$10 billion to fighting climate change, which he considers "the biggest threat to our planet." He also shared that the monetary donation will go towards the creation of the Bezos Earth Fund.

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The Twitter and Square founder used US$1 billion of his equity in Square to fund COVID-19 relief efforts during the pandemic, as well as support other charitable causes. The large amount in question was distributed through Dorsey's Start Small LLC charitable fund.

▲Netflix's co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings along with his wife Patty Quillin announced in 2020 that they are committing US$120 million "to the United Negro College Fund and two historically Black colleges as part of the fight for racial justice spurred by the killing of George Floyd."

▲The famed basketball star announced that his company Jordan Brand has committed to donating US$100 million over the next 10 years to organizations dedicated to ensuring racial equality and social justice.

▲This donation came in the wake of worldwide protests sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Jordan said in a statement: “Until the ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people.”

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Knight is known as the co-founder of Nike. In 2016, along with his wife Penelope, he donated half a billion dollars to the University of Oregon, to be paid over a 10-year payment plan.

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MacKenzie Scott has always been a philanthropist, but since her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bumped her net worth to about US$60 billion, she has really been ramping up her contributions to non-profit organizations. In October she made a donation of US$84.5 million to the Girl Scouts of the USA, the largest single donation in the organization's history, NBC reports. The money will go toward creating “more equitable membership opportunities” in underserved areas, upgrading Girl Scout facilities to be more accessible, and expanding programming in career readiness, STEM fields, and mental health, the organization said in a news release.

But this is hardly Scott's biggest donation. In March 2022, news broke that Scott had donated US$436 million to Habitat for Humanity, which is her largest charitable donation to date. The CEO of Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia was the first person to be contacted and initially thought it was a hoax, but not all things are too good to be true!

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Yvon Chouinard founded the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia in 1973, and today it's worth around US$3 billion. Instead of holding onto that fortune as many billionaires would, Chouinard announced his decision to donate the entire company to a non-profit organization that will redistribute the profits to various charities and projects fighting climate change. The former rock climber has always been committed to protecting the environment while building his business, and he's taking the ultimate step to give back.

Instead of selling the company and donating all the money, he chose to keep Patagonia going under the same leadership and with the same values, but now all of the profits that aren't reinvested into the business will be donated for years to come. In a statement published on the Patagonia website, Chouinard wrote that they were “reimagining capitalism.” He hopes to generate donations of around US$100 million each year.

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Money: it makes the world turn, yet most of it is held by the few people at the top. So, when a billionaire decides to be charitable and redistribute their incomprehensible funds, it’s a huge deal.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced that country legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton is the recipient of this year's Bezos Courage and Civility Award, which means he's awarding her with US$100 million for her various charities. If that wasn't enough, he also told CNN he has plans to give away most of his US$124 billion fortune during his lifetime towards fighting climate change and reducing inequality.

Bezos has previously been criticized for not promising to dedicate his fortune to charity, but it appears, as one Twitter user joked, "Someone got visited by 3 ghosts last night."

Check out this gallery to see which other loaded donors have dropped the biggest donations of recent times.

The biggest donations of recent times

Jeff Bezos awards Dolly Parton US$100 million, pledges to donate most of his wealth

15/11/22 por StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Giving

Money: it makes the world turn, yet most of it is held by the few people at the top. So, when a billionaire decides to be charitable and redistribute their incomprehensible funds, it’s a huge deal.

Bezos has previously been criticized for not promising to dedicate his fortune to charity, but it appears, as one Twitter user joked, "Someone got visited by 3 ghosts last night."

Check out this gallery to see which other loaded donors have dropped the biggest donations of recent times.