World's most generous billionaires, millionaires in 2014

Dubai: This is indeed the season of giving, with two billionaires in the region, Emirati tycoon Abdullah Ahmad Al Ghurair and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal pledging to give away their money for good causes.

The Saudi businessman announced this month he is donating his entire $32 billion fortune to charity over the coming years, while Ghurair from UAE pledged a third of his assets for the improvement of the quality of education among young Arabs.

But they’re not the only high-net-worth individuals who are giving away their fortunes for charitable endeavours. There are several other businessmen who have not only pledged, but actually distributed millions of dirhams to help those in need.

Philanthropy is common in the ultra-wealthy community. A typical rich businessman or investor, who has an average net worth of $240 million and an average liquidity of $46 million, gives away $25 million over the course of his or her lifetime, according to a study by Arton Capital and Wealth-X.

In 2014 alone, billionaire investor Warren Buffet turned over $2.1 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the form of 16.6 million shares of his company, Berkshire Hathaway, according to Wealth-X in another report. That was the biggest donation last year.

Philanthropists from the United States dominated last year’s donations, although two property tycoons from Hong Kong, Ronnie and Gerald Chan, also appeared on the list, having given away $350 million to Harvard University in 2014.

Below are 10 high-net-worth individuals who gave the most donations to charity in 2014:

Rank	Name	Individual Or With Spouse	Net Worth (US$ million)	Donated Amount* (US$ million)	Donated Amount To Net Worth Ratio	Cause
1	Warren Buffett	Individual	66,900	2,100	3%	Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
2	Nicholas Woodman	With spouse	4,400	497.5	10%	Silicon Valley Community Foundation
3	Ronnie Chan	Individual	1,500	175	10%	Harvard University
4	Gerald Chan	Individual	1,300	175	12%	Harvard University
5	Kenneth Griffin	Individual	5,500	150	3%	Harvard University
6	Gert Boyle	Individual	540	100	16%	Oregon Health & Science University
7	John Morgridge	With spouse	1,500	100	6%	University of Wisconsin-Madison
8	John “Jay” Jordan	Individual	290	75	21%	University of Notre Dame
9	Edward Meyer	With spouse	740	75	9%	Weill Cornell Medical College
10	Charles Munger	Individual	1,100	65	6%	University of California Santa Barbara