Billionaires' Wealth Is Skyrocketing. Their Philanthropy Is Not

[jsr]

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-14/as-billionaires-wealth-skyrockets-their-philanthropy-does-not

Billionaires' Wealth Is Skyrocketing. Their Philanthropy Is Not
By Nick Summers

The Chronicle of Philanthropy released its annual “Philanthropy 50” list this week, detailing the gifts of the most generous donors in America. These individuals are “ditching the caution that marked so much of their giving as the economy stalled and are roaring back” with $7.7 billion in contributions, 4 percent more than in 2012, the publication says.

Some $7.7 billion is nothing to scoff at. It’s also possible that the figure would be higher if anonymous donations were included. The Chronicle publishes an excellent data set, however, and a closer look at the numbers suggests there is not quite a “surge” or “boom” in the largest gifts. This chart shows the top 50 over the last 13 years, adjusted for inflation—with an asterisk:



Why the asterisk? To make the trend more readable, that chart omits the most sizable gift in memory: Warren Buffett’s 2006 commitment of $36.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Here’s the complete picture:



Giving is up since the financial crisis. But while the stock market has made a complete recovery, top-50 philanthropy has clearly not. And this kind of giving has not nearly kept pace with the rise in American billionaires’ wealth over the past decade. The Forbes 400 list, which tracks the richest people in the U.S., had a total net worth of $955 billion in 2003. By 2013, it had more than doubled, to $2 trillion.

[Egalitarian Thug]

1. Rich people do not give anything to anyone. They will do all kinds of things to avoid

taxation, however.

[Scuba]

2. How much of this "philanthropy" is donating money to a think tank that promotes a political agenda?