The Walton Family Foundation – No.7 December 18, 2014 USA – £207.84m The Walton family is the richest in America, according to Forbes 2014 list. Their wealth has come from their 51 per cent stake in retailing giant Walmart – the world’s largest retailer. The Walton Family Foundation was set up by Walmart’s founders, Sam and Helen Walton, in 1988 when they pledged [...]
Church Commissioners – No.8 December 18, 2014 UK – £207.8m “There is no greater joy than helping a young person explore more about God and the big questions of this universe, as they journey through this life,” says Jane Gillis, a school community worker at Christ Church Clifton, who is working with local schools to provide spiritual development opportunities. Gillis’ work [...]
David and Lucile Packard Foundation – No.9 December 18, 2014 USA – £184.8m “Think first of the other fellow,” was the first of David Packard’s 11 rules summing up his approach to life. Packard, one half of the duo which set up computer manufacturing giant Hewlett Packard, at one stage one of the world’s largest tech firms, started the company in a Californian garage with [...]
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation – No.10 December 18, 2014 USA – £174m Considered one of Silicon Valley’s founding fathers, Gordon Moore is another seminal figure in the history of computing to make it into the top 20 of the City A.M. Charity Index. Almost five decades ago, Moore predicted computing power would double every two years – the so called “Moore’s Law”. His prophetic [...]
Open Society Foundations – No.11 December 18, 2014 USA – £162.7m* Billionaire investor George Soros is best known as “the man who broke the Bank of England” for his bet against the pound which saw him profit when Britain crashed out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992. Long before then in 1979, when he says he “had made more money than [...]
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation – No.12 December 18, 2014 USA – £151.9m Never stifle a generous impulse,” was one of William Hewlett’s favourite sayings and he kept his word. Hewlett, one half of the duo that set up computer manufacturing giant Hewlett Packard, has proved just as generous as his HP co-founder David Packard. In fact, it was the personal generosity of Hewlett, [...]
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation – No.13 December 18, 2014 USA – £149m Andrew Mellon was part of the same generation as well known figures John Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford. But Princeton University professor David Cannadine says even among such notable contemporaries, Mellon was unique. “He excelled in four fields of endeavor: as a businessman and banker; as a politician and statesman; as [...]
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation – No. 14 December 18, 2014 USA – £146m The MacArthur Foundation is probably best known for its so-called “genius grants” – more formally known as the MacArthur Fellowships. These are grants of £399,000, spread out over a five-year period, given to individuals “who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future”. Since [...]
Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation – No.15 December 18, 2014 Sweden – £137.4m ‘It may be egotistical to make donations while one is still alive, but it certainly is fun,” said Knut Wallenberg. The banker and politician started the foundation when he was 65 after being bedridden with illness for almost a month. With no children, he thought it was time to start thinking about [...]
The Atlantic Philanthropies – No. 16 December 18, 2014 UK – £136.7m ‘I believe that people of substantial wealth potentially create problems for future generations unless they themselves accept responsibility to use their wealth during their lifetime to help worthwhile causes,” said Chuck Feeney, who set up The Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982. Feeney made his fortune by starting the DFS duty free shopping [...]
