Jeff Bezos: world's richest man finally tops list of biggest donors

Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man and one frequently tagged a cheapskate when it comes to giving away money, has emerged as a leading philanthropist. According to the latest Philanthropy 50 list, a ranking of America's top 50 donors compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Bezos actually made more charitable donations than anyone else in the US last year, including philanthropists with comparable fortunes such as former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Microsoft's Bill Gates. Bezos, who holds Amazon stock valued at about $137bn, contributed a total of $2bn to good causes in 2018 through his Bezos Day One Fund, a philanthropic vehicle founded by his soon-to-be ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos. According to the foundation's website, the Bezos fund was established to support existing not-for-profits addressing homelessness and poverty, in addition to funding preschool education in low-income communities. While the Bezos gifts may still be far behind Gates' lifetime donations of about $45bn to global poverty alleviation and education, or Bloomberg's current $6bn in gifts, his surprise entry into the top 50 comes as overall giving among the group declined by half last year compared to 2017.