Philanthropy: the ones to watch

The Carnegie and Rockefeller families may have been among the forefathers of modern day philanthropy, but who is following in their footsteps?

Research company Wealth-X reckons it knows. It has released a list of the “global top 20 emerging mega donors” – based on ultra-wealthy people’s efforts to “emulate forebearers of modern major giving”.

China’s Wenzai Huang topped the list, giving away almost 6% of his $1 billion fortune. He was followed by SAP co-founder Hans-Werner Hector (3.53%) and American Terrence Pegula (3.03%), who made his money in natural gas and is now known for his donations to college sporting causes. Gennady Borisovich Bogolyubov (2.90%) from Ukraine and property magnet Jianlin Wang (1.65%) made up the remaining top five.

Asians dominated the list – seven of the top 20 were from India or China, while 20% came from the US. Higher education was the most popular cause, followed by health and social programmes.

The research also found that mega donors gave on average 9.9% of their income to philanthropic causes compared to the average American’s 4.7%.

President of Wealth-X David Friedman said: “The top 20 mega donors represent a total net worth of $65.4 billion, less than 1% of combined global UHNW wealth. Clearly there is opportunity for greater giving globally.”