The Chronicle of Philanthropy has reported that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, were the most generous American philanthropists in 2013. The couple donated 18 million Facebook shares (with a value of almost $1 billion) to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The donation was the largest charitable gift on public record for the year and put Zuckerberg and Chan at the very top of 2013’s list of the 50 most generous Americans.
The editor of the Chronicle, Stacy Palmer, said the money from living donors this year was equivalent to the totals collected from the previous two years combined. She believes, “It’s a sure sign that the economy is getting better and people are getting a lot less cautious.” While personally I wouldn’t necessarily look towards the charitable actions of the 1% to determine the overall health of the economy, it is a good sign nonetheless. I guess it’s easy to be a philanthropist, though, when you are one of the richest people in the world.
50 Most Generous Donors of 2013
Another notable on the list was former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who made donations totally $452 million in 2013 in areas related to art, education, environment, public health and other good causes. 19 other list members have also signed the Giving Pledge, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010, where over 120 of the world’s wealthiest people have pledged to donate at least half of their enormous wealth to charity.
Photo by Gary He/Insider Images/Polaris/Newscom
via Huff Post
