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At $2.1 billion, Buffett is year's biggest philanthropist

December 10, 2014 12:43 IST

The top 10 largest philanthropic donations of 2014 also include, Edward Meyer at 9th rank ($75 million donation to Weill Cornell Medical College) and Charles Munger at the 10th place ($65 million to University of California Santa Barbara)

Warren Buffett

Image: Warren Buffett with his wife Astrid Menks in Washington, DC. Photograph: Benjamin Myers/Reuters

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has made the largest philanthropic donation of this year, by giving $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of 16.6 million shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway.

According to global wealth intelligence and prospecting company Wealth-X, Buffett topped the list of the 10 biggest single charitable donors of 2014.

Nicholas Woodman

Image: Nicholas Woodman of GoPro attends Day 3 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013 at San Francisco Design Center. Photograph: Steve Jennings/Getty Images

Nicholas Woodman, GoPro Founder, CEO and Chairman was ranked second on the list as he along with his spouse donated $497.5 million to Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Eight of the top 10 donations of 2014 were made by American philanthropists. Hong Kong real estate tycoons Ronnie and Gerald Chan are the only non-Americans to appear on the list.

Ronnie and Gerald Chan were ranked third and fourth on the list.

The billionaire brothers collectively gave a $350 million gift to Harvard University, the largest ever in the school's history.

Kenneth Griffin

Image: Kenneth Griffin; Photograph: Reuters

Harvard also received a $150 million donation from hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin to support financial aid.

Griffin was ranked fifth on the coveted list.

Six of the top 10 donations of 2014 were made to educational institutions, two were given to health causes and two went to philanthropic foundations, Wealth-X said.

Among other contributions, Gert Boyle's $100 million donation to Oregon Health & Science University was ranked 6th on the list followed by John Morgridge at the 7th place ($100 million to University of Wisconsin-Madison), John Jay Jordan at 8th rank ($75 million to University of Notre Dame).

Charles Thomas Munger

Image: Charles Thomas Munger. Photograph: Nick/Wikimedia Commons

The top 10 largest philanthropic donations of 2014 also include, Edward Meyer at 9th rank ($75 million donation to Weill Cornell Medical College) and Charles Munger at the 10th place ($65 million to University of California Santa Barbara).

The Donated amounts mentioned in this report only took into account donations that have already been made, and do not include pledged amounts.

Wealth-X is the world's leading ultra high net worth intelligence and prospecting firm with the largest collection of curated research on UHNW individuals, defined as those with net assets of $30 million and above.

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