As the ranks of America’s super wealthy grow, the roster of major philanthropists is expanding to include not-so-typical megadonors — among them, a professional clarinetist, a Ph.D. in meat science, and a lawyer who regularly argues before the U.S. Supreme Court.
That’s according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy analysis of giving by the country’s 50 biggest donors in 2022. Twenty-six of the 50 are new to the Chronicle’s annual ranking, which dates to 2000. They include big names from business such as Airbnb’s Brian Chesky (who gave $100 million to the Obama Foundation), FedEx’s Fred Smith ($65 million to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation), and Roku founder Anthony Wood ($71.5 million to several charitable giving vehicles).
Also, Jacklyn Bezos, mother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, made her debut on the list with her husband, Miguel. The two gave $710.5 million to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
Other Philanthropy 50 first-timers, however, lack the national profile, the Silicon Valley address, or Wall Street credentials that are commonplace in today’s philanthropy world, where such tech and finance titans as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffett set the tone.