Howard Schultz – <$320 million
Heard of Starbucks? That one coffee place with the mermaid logo? That’s run by Howard Schultz and has been since the 1980s. He brought it out of obscurity and turned it into the huge global corporation it is today. The company has made Schultz $3.2 Billion over the four decades he’s been running it for, and he’s made some effort to donate to charity in that time. He’s donated over 5% of his wealth, but still less than 10% of it. Given his large amount of wealth, he could probably afford a little more.
Steven Spielberg – <$400 million
Spielberg is not only a prolific filmmaker, but a pretty great one too. With films like Jaws, E.T. and Schindler’s List that all made it big, it sort of makes sense that Spielberg’s work made him one of America’s richest people with a net worth of $4 Billion. Though he is not the most egregious of billionaires, he could do better with his wealth, having donated less than 10% of it to charity.
Jack Dorsey – <$225 million
Dorsey is the cofounder of widely used media and workplace applications Twitter and Square which led to his net worth of around $4.5B. Sure, that might have done some good for the world, but what would be even more beneficial for those in need would be for Dorsey to donate more than the <5% that he has. It’s not a good look for him!
Mark Cuban – <$46 million
Mark Cuban made his wealth through online media and has steadily become even wealthier over 2022, leading to him now having a net wealth of $4.6 Billion. Cuban is amongst the billionaires who claim to be self-made in some way, shape or form. However, despite his immense wealth and knowledge of how hard life can be, he has not taken it upon himself to donate more than 1% of his wealth.
Rick Caruso – <$265 million
Rick Caruso made his money through real estate. He is responsible for some of the most popular and successful shopping centres in the United States and thus has a net worth of $5.3 Billion. Caruso has donated over $53 million in his time but less than $265 million, or 5% of his total wealth.
Oprah Winfrey – <$125 million
Not all the rich and famous are wealthy enough to make it onto the Forbes 400 list, but famous media personality Oprah is, with her net worth of over 2.5 billion. Although she’s got money to spare and she arguably does not hold back when it comes to gifting, Oprah has still donated less than 5% of her net worth to charities. Let’s hope Oprah knows that giving random audience members cars is not the same as giving to the needy.
Dagmar Dolby and family – <$460 million
Dagmar Dolby’s late husband Ray died in 2013, leaving Dolby Laboratories to Dagmar and the rest of the family. Dolby technology continues to be used worldwide, which is how Dagmar Dolby and family’s net worth is $4.6 Billion. When your money was inherited, it feels like you have even more responsibility to donate the majority of it, since it wasn’t directly earned by you. Dolby has donated over 5% of her wealth, but those donations have not crossed the 10% mark.
George Lucas – <$540 million
Big filmmakers really do make an awful lot of money. Not that George Lucas has done much filmmaking since he sold his company Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012, but the Star Wars creator still maintains a net worth of $5.4 Billion. While still maintaining a great amount of wealth, Lucas has still only chosen to donate significantly less than 10% of it. That’s less than $540 million of his massive fortune.
David Geffen – <$770 million
David Geffen founded several businesses that made him his fortune. Several were record labels and one is a film studio you might have heard of: Dreamworks. Because of this he has a net worth of $7.7 Billion and has managed to donate over 5% of that money. Unfortunately, Geffen has not been shown to be the type who goes above and beyond, since he has not hit the 10% mark on his wealth when it comes to philanthropy.
Robert Kraft – <$1.06 Billion
Robert Kraft is the CEO of the Kraft group that makes everyone’s favourite boxed mac ‘n’ cheese. His fortune is one of $10.6 Billion thanks to his involvement in the Kraft manufacturing company as well as his ownership of the New England Patriots team, Despite all that wealth, Kraft has kept his philanthropy spending under 10% of his earnings.
Leonard Lauder – <$2.19 Billion
Estee Lauder is a giant of the beauty and cosmetics world. Leonard Lauder spent many decades running this company that started from his own family. It is through managing Estee Lauder that Leonard acquired a net worth of $21.9 Billion. Though he has donated over $1.1 Billion, or 5% of his wealth, he has not reached the 10% mark of $2.2 Billion in charitable donating. He’s done some work, but there’s always more to be done when you’re that rich!
Phil Knight – <$4 Billion
Phil Knight founded Nike back in 1964 and it turned into one of the giants of the shoe world, being a global triumph. Though he retired in 2016, Knight’s work and his shares have him with a net worth of $41.5 Billion. He’s not strictly done nothing when it comes to philanthropy, but the amount he has donated remains under $4 billion, so well under 10% of his earnings.
Mark Zuckerberg – <$5.77 Billion
The founder of Facebook is renowned as a billionaire since he’s been one of the richest people in the world for several years. Up until 2021, Zuckerberg had donated less than 5% of his massive wealth. However, in 2022 his net worth fell to $57.7 Billion, which might have something to do with his philanthropy score rising, with Zuckerberg now having donated over 5% but less than 10% of his total wealth. Next to billionaires who donate over 20% of their wealth though, Zuck is going to have to up his game.
Evan Spiegel – <$140 million
Evan Spiegel was one of the youngest people to become a billionaire at only 25 years old through being the CEO at Snapchat. It is seven years since he reached billionaire status and his net worth now stands at $2.8 Billion. He has donated between 1% and 5% of his total wealth which is better than other big names in the Snapchat company, but if you’re a Billionaire at all, you can afford more than that.
David Filo – <$160 million
Filo got rich through the company Yahoo which he cofounded and later sold on to Verizon in 2016 for $5 Billion. His net worth now stands at $3.2 Billion and in spite of that, Filo has failed to donate over 5% of his earnings to date. He has, however, donated over $32 million, or 1% of his wealth. Not the worst, but could certainly do better.
Marian Ilitch – <$215 million
Back in 1959, Little Caesars Pizza was founded by Marian Ilitch and her late husband who died in 2017. It remains the source of Ilitch’s wealth today, bringing her net worth to $4.3 Billion. She has spent over 1% but less than 5% of than on philanthropic causes. It’s something, but she could certainly do better.
Joe Mansueto – <$250 million
In 1984, Joe Mansueto started an investment research firm with $80,000 he had in savings. The firm in question is Morningstar and it made him a lot of money. $5 Billion, to be precise. Mansueto has donated between $50 million and $250 million in his time as a billionaire, scoring him a Forbes philanthropy score of 2– could do better.
Janice McNair – <$250 million
Janice was not one of America’s richest people until her husband died in 2018, leaving his assets to her. These assets included the NFL team the Houston Texans. Though she has donated some of her net worth of $5 Billion since she inherited it from her late husband, the amount is firmly between just 1% and 5% of the total amount.
Charles Simonyi – <$265 million
Charles Simonyi was one of Microsoft’s earliest employees and sticking with them paid off for him. In fact it landed him a net worth of $5.3 Billion. He is the reason for some of Microsoft’s most used applications including Excel and Word. Though these programs have created a lot of value globally, Simonyi has kept his charitable donations between 1% and 5% of his total wealth.
David Steward – <$300 million
David Steward is responsible for founding the company World Wide Technology. He is still the chairman of the company to this day and has amassed a net worth of $6 Billion. He sits firmly in the Forbes philanthropy score of 2, having donated over 1% of his wealth, but still definitely less than 5%.
Jack Dangermond – <$350 million
Esri is a digital mapping technology which is at the forefront of that kind of tech. Jack Dangermond was the founder of Esri which is how he achieved his net worth of $7 Billion. Through all this money and tech knowledge, Dangermond has still not succeeded in donating 5% or more of his $7 billion.
Donald Newhouse – <$570 million
Newhouse’s wealth was inherited together with his late brother. They inherited the company Advance Publications which is how Newhouse has a net worth of $11.4 Billion today. When you inherit your wealth, it would make sense to donate a good portion of it, but Newhouse has kept his donations solidly between 1% and 5% of his wealth.
Jan Koum – <$680 million
It’s hard to deny how useful people have found WhatsApp since it was founded in 2009, and they have Jan Koum to thank as a cofounder of the company. The man now has a fortune of $13.6 Billion thanks to the messaging app and he’s not the worst of the worst, having donated over 1% of his wealth, but with it still being under 5%, there’s so much he could do with $13.6 Billion. It’s important to remember what a vast amount even $1 Billion is!
David Green – <$700 million
David Green grew up low income, but opening a craft store in 1970 lead him to be able to start the now large company Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby is where Green has earned most of his money, which now amounts to $14 Billion. He has donated well under $700 million or 5% of his wealth, but has gone over $140 million or 1% of his wealth in donations. Considering that most people could only dream of 1% of his wealth, he could do with a bit more generosity.
Eric Schmidt – <$920 million
Eric Schmidt was on the board of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, for 18 years and continued to advise the company for an extra year afterwards. He stepped down completely in 2020 and still has a net worth of $18.4 Billion today. He has kept his charity donations under 5% of his wealth in his time as a billionaire, though.
Michael Dell – <$2.5 Billion
If you have ever used a Dell laptop, that’s the Dell we’re talking about here. Michael Dell is chairman and CEO of the ever popular company, which is how he now has a net worth of $50 Billion. Though he has donated some of his wealth, he has kept that amount well under $2.5 Billion, which means it’s under 5% of his money.
Charles Koch – <$2.8 Billion
Charles Koch is both chairman and CEO of Koch Industries. Yup, that Koch Industries. The company has consistently been the second largest private company in the United States since 1967 which is what has allowed Koch to accumulate $56 Billion in wealth. You’d think the CEO of America’s second largest private company would be able to donate a significant amount to charity, but Koch keeps his donations low, having donated less than 5% of his wealth.
Steve Ballmer – <$4.15 Billion
Ballmer’s massive amount of wealth was gained through his time as CEO of Microsoft between 2000 and 2014. He is now America’s 8th richest person with a net worth of $83 Billion, but even with such a large amount of wealth in his pockets, Ballmer has kept his philanthropy under 5% of his overall wealth.
Sergey Brin – <$4.45 Billion
Sergey Brin is the seventh richest person in the United States with a net worth of $89 Billion– no small amount! He was president of Google’s parent company Alphabet and stepped down in 2019 while still being a shareholder. He has donated between 1% and 5% of his earnings and, while that’s no small amount of money, it’s all relative. The more you make, the larger percentage of your income you can feasibly go without.
Jeff Bezos – <$7.55 Billion
The founder of Amazon is pretty wealthy, being up there in the richest people in the world with a net worth of around 151 billion USD. Despite his immense wealth and newest pledge to help the climate, he has still donated less than 5% of his lifetime wealth to making the world a better place. As much as he might think it, creating Amazon next day delivery did not improve the world enough for it to count as charity.
Bobby Murphy – <$27 million
Snapchat was a big deal in the 2010s and continues to be a popular social media app with teens around the world. Bobby Murphy was one of its cofounders which is how he made his $2.7 Billion. Snapchat has been the source of a lot of friend drama over the years it’s been popular for, so Murphy should really donate more to charity to make up for that. However, he still has failed to donate even 1% of his net worth.
Isaac Perlmutter – <$43 million
You might not know this, but Marvel actually went bankrupt in 1998 and it was Isaac Perlmutter that bought the company. He is now the chairman at Marvel which has become an enormously wealthy company. Perlmutter’s net worth now stands at $4.3 Billion but in spite of this, he has still donated a fair bit less than $43 million, or 1% of his wealth.
Fred Smith – <$47 million
Back in 1965, Fred Smith founded FedEx as part of a college assignment at Yale. Since then, a lot has changed and everyone now knows the company’s name. That is how Smith now has a $4.7 Billion fortune. FedEx delivering packages to people is not the same as charity work if they have to pay for it though, Fred. Donating more than 1% of his earnings could make as big a difference in the world as the existence of FedEx. He should give it a try.
Ralph Lauren – <$65 million
You’ve heard the name, you’ve seen it on fashion products, you’ve heard him referenced in the media, and now you’re hearing that he’s far from the most generous person out there. Along with being executive chairman and chief creative officer at Ralph Lauren and holds 85% of the voting power, so whatever Ralph wants, Ralph gets. It’s that all-about-him attitude that got him his $6.5 Billion net worth while only donating under 1% of that wealth.
Dan and Bubba Cathy – <$66 million each
Chick-fil-a is famous for their delicious fried chicken fast food and for their monetary contributions to homophobic organisations. Siblings Dan (pictured above) and Bubba Cathy have equal shares in the company at $6.6 Billion each in net worth. When you know some of their money is going to fund homophobes, the fact they spend less than 1% of their money on charity feels that much worse.
Tim Sweeney – <$76 million
Tim Sweeney is the CEO of the games developer Epic Games. They developed giant global favourite Fortnite which made them most of their money. That is how Tim Sweeney now has a net worth of $7.6 billion. As much as preteens in particular love Fortnite, that doesn’t mean Sweeney shouldn’t be donating to charity. Though he may have given a very limited amount, Sweeney’s philanthropy still totals less than 1% of his total wealth. Not enough!
Tilman Fertitta – $80 million
Tilman Fertitta bought the Houston Rockets team back in 2017. He also owns Gold Nugget Casinos, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Landry’s, a Texas based restaurant chain. This is how he’s accumulated a net worth of $8 Billion. Owning restaurant chains and sports teams does not count as charity though, so someone should give Fertitta the message. Maybe then he’ll donate more than 1% of his money.
Brian Chesky – <$89 million
If you have ever stayed in an Airbnb, you have used a service co-created by Brian Chesky. Chesky cofounded Airbnb back in 2008 and is the CEO of the company which is how he has a net worth of $8.9 Billion. According to many, Airbnb has become more trouble than it’s worth, and in turn Chesky seems to think that donating to charity is more trouble than it’s worth. That’s probably why he’s donated less than $89 million to charity, or less than 1% of his total earnings.
Andrew Beal – <$103 million
Andrew Beal is in many ways considered a Scrooge of the billionaire world. Despite being in the top 50 richest people in the whole world, he has not been generous with his money. Beal got his $10.3B worth of wealth through being the founder and owner of Beal Financial Corp. and despite all that, he has not figured out how to donate more than 1% of his earnings to charitable causes.
Shahid Khan – <$112 million
Shahid Khan started out working as an engineer until he bought an auto parts supplier called Flex-N-Gate from his own employer back in 1980. The worth of that company grew steadily, particularly over 2022, giving Shahid Khan a net worth of $11.2 Billion. Though he has an awful lot of money to spend and share with others, Khan has donated well under 1% on his earnings.
Laurene Powell Jobs – <$126 million
The majority of Laurene Powell Jobs’ was inherited from her late husband Steve Jobs who died back in 2011. The money came from shares in Apple and Disney, leaving her with wealth totalling $12.6 Billion. All that wealth that she inherited directly and yet she has not cared to donate close to 1% of that money to charitable causes.
Stan Kroenke – <$129 million
Stan Kroenke is owner to a large amount of real estate alongside some sports teams, giving him a net worth of $12.9 Billion. Despite being one of the richest people in the United States, Forbes could only find evidence of Kroenke making one single donation. While his sports team the Rams do have a charitable foundation, it relies on donations from others with Kroenke himself not contributing. talk about stingy!
John Menard Jr. – <$170 million
John Menard Jr. founded Menards which is a large chain of home improvement shops. He is also in the top 50 wealthiest people in the United States with a net worth of $17 Billion, but he has donated so little of the amount he has made in his life that he, too, is one of the stingiest billionaires out there. You’d think having a net worth around 75,000 times that of the average middle class American would make you more generous, but apparently not.
Rupert Murdoch – <$180 million
Murdoch owns a large chunk of the media we all consume. From Fox News to the Times of London to the Wall Street Journal, all of them are held firmly under Rupert Murdoch’s thumb. He is the 35th richest person in the world and a real hoarder when it comes to his net worth of over $18 Billion. Murdoch was ranked a 1 on the Forbes generosity scale, meaning he has donated less than 1% of his wealth.
Abigail Johnson – <$205 million
Abigail Johnson came into her wealth through her role as CEO of Fidelity Investments. It might not be shocking that this is a role she inherited from her father. She has been CEO since 2014 and has accumulated a net worth of $20.5 Billion dollars, mostly from since she first took the role. In all her Billions of dollars of wealth, Johnson has not found it in herself to donate more than 1% of her net worth, though.
Jim and Rob Walton – <$560 million each
These two are grouped together, since they are both the heirs to the huge corporation of Walmart, pictured here with sister Alice. Despite being some of the wealthiest people out there, each of them being worth over $56B, these Walton brothers have dedicated less than 1% of their net worth to charity. Those who can afford it the most often share their wealth the least.
Larry Page – <$930 million
Larry Page arguably did something pretty cool in co-founding Google, but that was some time ago now. Despite being worth $93 Billion, making him the sixth richest person in the world, Page was only as generous as he felt like being which was… you guessed it! Not at all. Larry Page has donated less than 1% of his total earnings, going off the newest data.
Larry Ellison – <$1.01 Billion
Larry Ellison is currently the fourth richest person in the world, having made his wealth through cofounding, having several roles in, and owning 35% of software giant Oracle. Despite having a net worth of $101 Billion, Ellison has done little in terms of philanthropy, having donated less than 1% of his total earnings.
Elon Musk – <$2.51 Billion
Elon Musk famously lost billions in 2022 due to the value of his shares plummeting, but he remains the richest man in the world with a net worth of $251 Billion. In spite of this, Musk is also one of the most selfish billionaires, having donated less than 1% of his earnings to charity. First, he ruins Twitter, then he ruins the hope we have in humanity.
Donald Trump – <$32 million
You know the name, the Presidential term, the Twitter drama, the memes, and the fact that his father gave him a “small” loan of a million dollars. Since we are all well aware of Donald Trump’s values, it’s not a surprise to hear that this ex-president donates less than 1% of his wealth to charity or making the world a better place for everyone. Though his net worth is $3.2 Billion, much less than $32 million of that has gone on philanthropy.
