# Where are the billionaire philanthropists?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 18, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192 "2026-05-18T19:49:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/1 "2026-05-18T19:49:47Z")
In the first Gilded Age, the central government was weak and corrupt, and the country was run by oligarchs (aka, “robber barons”). But at least one of whom – Andrew Carnegie comes to mind – gave away vast amounts of their riches for the public good.
We’re now in Gilded Age 2.0, with the much the same conditions. Wouldn’t it be nice if one of our 900 American billionaires would write a check to cover the shortfall that our governments don’t seem to handle? Jeff Bezos could fully fund the national parks for the rest of his life without noticing any change in his bank account.
Bill Gates seems to be the only one with a conscience. Can we shame the rest into stepping up?
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### Author:  [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/2 "2026-05-18T19:56:59Z")
Warren Buffett, MacKenzie Scott, Michael Bloomberg?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/3 "2026-05-18T20:03:25Z")
It isn’t that we don’t have the philanthropic billionaires of yesteryear. It is that the philanthropic billionaires weren’t investigated and scrutinized as heavily as the modern versions are.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/4 "2026-05-18T20:07:51Z")
Examples, please, of what they’ve done?
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### Author:  [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/5 "2026-05-18T20:14:10Z")
Tom Steyer is trying to buy the California Governorship. Does that count?
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/6 "2026-05-18T20:14:52Z")
McKenzie Scott has given away over 26 billion since 2019: [MacKenzie Scott announced another $7.1 billion in 2025 charitable donations—she's now given away $26.3 billion since 2019](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/13/mackenzie-scott-revealed-her-total-charitable-donations-for-2025.html)
Warren Buffet: 60 billion: [With $6B donation, Warren Buffett has now given away over $60B: It’s ‘substantially more than my entire net worth in 2006’](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/with-6-billion-donation-buffett-has-now-given-away-over-60-billion.html)
Michael Bloomberg: 21 billion: [https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286082/michael-bloomberg-titan/](https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286082/michael-bloomberg-titan/)
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/7 "2026-05-18T20:25:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> It isn’t that we don’t have the philanthropic billionaires of yesteryear. It is that the philanthropic billionaires weren’t investigated and scrutinized as heavily as the modern versions are.
Well, I think a lot of that is a result of many modern billionaires displaying a sense of entitlement and selfishness that you didn’t see previously. And the billionaires of old build rail networks and steel mills and infrastructure that created wealth and jobs. Much of modern billionaire’s wealth is built on software or esoteric financial shit like hedge funds or private equity or crypto currency.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/8 "2026-05-18T20:33:19Z")
In addition to those three:
- Bill and Melinda Gates (causes: global health, poverty alleviation, social progress for women and girls)
- Steve and Connie Ballmer (causes: economic mobility, pre-K education, behavioral health)
- Sergey Brin (causes: Parkinson’s disease, climate change)
- Phil Knight (causes: education, cancer research)
Plus a number more, many of whom aren’t well-known.
> **[America’s Top 25 Philanthropists — And The Richest Not On the List](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/2026/02/09/americas-top-25-philanthropists---and-why-musk-page-and-ellison-arent-on-the-list/)**
>
> MacKenzie Scott was the nation’s top philanthropist in 2025 and ranks third behind Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates in terms of lifetime giving.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/9 "2026-05-18T20:37:53Z")
Paul Krugman writes about this all the time – some of the richest folks (Musk, Zuckerberg, Thiel, Bezos) think they don’t get enough respect or something, and don’t really feel any shame about not helping others.
Here you go:
> **[Will our Hyper-Gilded Age Usher in Genuine Populism?](https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/will-our-hyper-gilded-age-usher-in)**
>
> The tech bros are worse than the robber barons ever were — and voters are catching on
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/10 "2026-05-18T20:39:24Z")
These all seem like worthy causes, but they also seem like things that will take decades to see any benefit. I was hoping for something a little more tangible and immediate.
Phil Knight could fund NPR for what he spends on the University of Oregon football team’s uniforms.
(Not literally true)
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/11 "2026-05-18T20:47:24Z")
> [@jsc1953](#):
>
> Phil Knight could fund NPR for what he spends on the University of Oregon football team’s uniforms.
Since you mentioned NPR: this article lists the philanthropic organizations which stepped up last year to pledge funding for NPR and PBS, when the Trump administration killed federal funding. Note that it lists “Pivotal,” which is Melinda Gates’ new philanthropic group.
> [@](#):
>
> The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Pivotal, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation joined forces to supply local outlets with grants and financial support after the Corporation for Public Broadcasting lost $1 billion in funding.
>
> The $36.5 million pledge to support local media includes $26.5 million in support for the Public Media Bridge Fund, a philanthropic effort managed by [Public Media Company](https://publicmedia.co/) and developed with seed funding from the Schmidt Family Foundation, according to a [Tuesday release](https://knightfoundation.org/press/releases/foundations-commit-36-5-million-in-emergency-funding-to-protect-public-media-in-vulnerable-communities/) from the Knight Foundation.
>
> In addition to funding the group venture, the MacArthur Foundation is committing $10 million in direct support to public media stations, programs and organizations, per the announcement.
[https://thehill.com/media/5459935-philanthropic-organizations-commit-37m-to-keep-public-media-stations-afloat/](https://thehill.com/media/5459935-philanthropic-organizations-commit-37m-to-keep-public-media-stations-afloat/)
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/12 "2026-05-18T21:20:10Z")
NPR and PBS are non-profits, so they can accept donations. Of course they always have, as any intro to a tv program demonstrates. Funding by corporations and foundations have always been major sources of revenue.
The contributions by older billionaires are heavily romanticized. Carnegie libraries were truly a major contribution to a growing America, but the reality of the funds paints a slightly different picture. Carnegie gave money to construct a building, but the local government had to pay for everything else, the site, employees, maintenance, books. The building itself normally cost no more than $25,000, $10,000 in most of the small towns that took advantage of the grants.
Rockerfeller gave away far more money than Carnegie. Some of it went into buildings, but most went to colleges and to institutions that studied public health, i.e. pretty much exactly like modern billionaire philanthropists.
Museums, art galleries, and other cultural institutions that bear the names of old-time money are also reflected today in similar places funded by similar riches.
You might want to ask yourself where these billionaires were during the Great Depression if their contributions were so significant. Did they take over from governments? Would it even have been possible? I’m sure charitable donations were made frequently, but they don’t seem to have made a dent.
They still can’t. Billionaires are no substitute for government in scope. Nor can billionaires write checks to fund government operations, like National Parks. Could the OP talk about what “tangible and immediate” results they could achieve?
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/13 "2026-05-18T21:23:54Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> Well, I think a lot of that is a result of many modern billionaires displaying a sense of entitlement and selfishness that you didn’t see previously.
This. “Greed is good” isn’t a worldview that encourages philanthropy. Someone who thinks that “empathy is a sin” isn’t going to try to make themselves feel good by helping others; they’ll _avoid_ helping others to feel good about themselves.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/14 "2026-05-18T21:34:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Nor can billionaires write checks to fund government operations, like National Parks.
Why not? Apparently private donations are accepted for things like a White House ballroom.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/15 "2026-05-18T21:37:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Could the OP talk about what “tangible and immediate” results they could achieve?
How about repairing the damage done by DOGE; for instance, making USAID whole? Of course we wouldn’t expect Musk to contribute.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/16 "2026-05-18T21:42:09Z")
Prove to me that the donations for Trump’s ballroom were ever legal.
And the point of USAID was that it was a governmental organization. Non-governmental organizations (NGO) exist by the thousands and do lots of great (and some not-so-great) work around the world, but are subject to limitations because they are not backed by the weight of government.
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### Author:  [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/17 "2026-05-18T21:45:46Z")
They’re not legally obligated to and they don’t care to for one reason or another. The wealthy class shouldn’t exist, charity represents a failure of the state and no one’s well being should be dependent on the whims of a rich person.
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/18 "2026-05-18T21:57:16Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> Prove to me that the donations for Trump’s ballroom were ever legal.
Apparently, the current paradigm is that everything is legal if nobody objects.
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### Author:  [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/19 "2026-05-18T21:59:25Z")
The upthread Forbes article is worth a look. Also consider The Giving Pledge. Wiki:
> **The Giving Pledge** is a charitable campaign, founded by [Bill Gates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates), [Melinda French Gates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melinda_French_Gates), and [Warren Buffett](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett), to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to [philanthropic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philanthropy) causes. As of October 2025, the pledge has more than 250 signatories from 30 countries.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge#cite_note-2) Most of the signatories of the pledge are [billionaires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billionaire), at a total of US$600 billion.
It’s a funny list. Elon Musk has signed it; Peter Theil has not and encourages others to either not sign it or retract their signature. So far Musk has given away 0.06% of his net worth, so in his case the pledge is vaporware. Bezos has not signed it.
As to where the money should go, money sent to the third world poor generally gets the biggest bang for the buck.
Some of these billionaires appear to enjoy their villainy, almost but not quite as much as they like preening and pontificating about matters that they know little and care less. But others aren’t as broken, character-wise. Warren Buffett lives mostly a middle class lifestyle, inhabiting the same suburban house that he purchased during the 1960s. He very much enjoys his job, but doesn’t seem obsessed with acquiring stuff. He makes oodles of money, then tries to allocate it responsibly. For too many, great wealth has made them petty: Buffett and Gates tried to be _mensches_, a Yiddish term for a person of great integrity, honor, and compassion. Bezos likes to show off.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [May 18, 2026, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-the-billionaire-philanthropists/1030192/20 "2026-05-18T22:14:44Z")
In general I think the billionaires spend their working life building up their wealth and then after they retire some of them start major philanthropy. For example Carnegie started his major giving at age 65 after he sold Carnegie Steel and Rockefeller started his major giving at age 58 after retiring from Standard Oil because of health problems.
The billionaires we are most aware of are still generally in their working life.
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