Move Over Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos Just Clinched the Most ‘Generous’ Billionaire Title of 2018

While everyone else is thinking of ways on how to tax the rich more, some billionaires are actually actively giving away some of their fortunes to various charities.

Their names and donations are even tracked and ranked by the magazine, Chronicle of Philanthropy in their annual list of the top 50 philanthropists in the United States.

While the organization saw a huge decrease in donations in 2018 from the $14.7 billion recorded in 2017, they have recorded a new billionaire on top of the list who’s managed to boot well-known generous billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates lower down the ranks.

The Richest Man in The World Might Have Finally Listened to His Critics

The 55-year-old CEO is currently valued at $138.1 billion.

Being the richest man in the world right now, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has often received criticism for his less than stellar efforts at being philanthropic.

Well, he seems to be taking his critics’ advice. Through his new foundation, Bezos Day One Fund, the billionaire has given away a huge sum around $2 billion to support other non-profit organizations which aim to help homeless families. The foundation is also trying to create a network of nonprofits concerned with preschool education in low-income communities.

Bezos admitted that the idea for the foundation was originally something he and estranged wife MacKenzie Bezos came up with before they decided to get divorced. MacKenzie is also credited along with her former husband on the philanthropic list.

Bill Gates Knocked Down a Couple of Spots

The husband and wife founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on healthcare and education issues, in 2000.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and wife Melinda slipped from their top spot in 2017 to placing 12th last year. This is caused by the huge decrease in the money they donated in 2018 at just $138 million from their previous donation of $4.78 billion through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

However, the two should still be credited for giving away a grand total of $45.5 billion since they started their charity work in 1994. What more, it was Bill who created The Giving Pledge together with stock genius and close friend Warren Buffett. The pledge’s main goal is to encourage other billionaires to give a large portion of their fortune to various charitable causes.

And So Was Mark Zuckerberg

The couple has been vocal about wanting to give away 99% of their fortune through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan, who used to place second on the list recently fell to the seventh place in 2018.

Like the Gates, the couple’s lower rank resulted in the decrease of money they donated in 2018 compared to 2017 going down from over $2 billion to $214 million. Majority of their donation went to their own initiative, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Donor Advised Fund.

Some financial experts attribute Zuckerberg’s decreasing donations in 2018 to the tumultuous year that Facebook had which also resulted in his net worth diminishing greatly. Zuckerberg’s original $73 billion fortune went down to $53 billion by the end of 2018. Though it’s currently risen up again at $65 billion as of latest.