U.S. philanthropy by the country’s wealthiest donors reached a new milestone in 2025, with the 25 most generous Americans giving a combined $275 billion over their lifetimes, according to Forbes’ latest annual ranking. The total rose by $34 billion from the previous year, reflecting large new transfers by several top donors, even as the overall share of wealth they have given away remains limited.
The list is led by investor Warren Buffett, whose lifetime donations now stand at $68.3 billion, the highest ever recorded for an American philanthropist. Buffett, 95, stepped down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025 but continued his long-running pattern of annual stock gifts. In 2025 alone, he donated about $6 billion in Berkshire shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and four family foundations, according to filings cited by Forbes. A further $1.3 billion went to charities run by his children and to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his late wife.
Forbes estimates that Buffett has now given away roughly 32 percent of his net worth. His approach, characterized by regular, large transfers to established institutions, has become a reference point for elite U.S. philanthropy.
Second on the list are Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, whose combined lifetime giving is calculated at $52.6 billion. Although the couple divorced in 2021 and formally separated their philanthropic work in 2024, Forbes continues to count their historical donations together because of the scale of what was built through the Gates Foundation.
In 2024, Bill Gates transferred $10.8 billion to Melinda French Gates’ organization, Pivotal Philanthropies, according to public disclosures. French Gates has since directed hundreds of millions of dollars from that fund to groups working on issues affecting women and girls. In a statement quoted by Forbes, she said those areas were “unconscionably underfunded.”
The most striking change on the 2025 list comes from MacKenzie Scott, who ranks just behind the Gateses in total giving but far ahead of any other donor in speed. Scott has donated $26.4 billion in less than seven years, distributing funds to more than 2,500 organizations since 2019. Forbes reports that she has given away more than 75 percent of the Amazon shares she received in her divorce settlement from Jeff Bezos.
Scott’s model differs sharply from the institutional style of Buffett or the Gates Foundation. Her grants are typically unrestricted and directed to organizations working in areas such as education, racial equity, climate, public health and economic mobility. Forbes notes that Scott is one of only four people in the top 25 who have already given away at least 40 percent of their fortunes.
Overall, however, the list shows that most of the wealthiest Americans are still holding on to the bulk of their assets. The top 25 donors have given away about 14 percent of their combined net worth, the smallest proportion since 2021, according to Forbes. That means the growth in total donations reflects rising wealth as much as it does increased generosity.
Beyond the top three, several other major figures added large sums in the past year. Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has directed billions toward climate initiatives and public health. Forbes cited a $100 million commitment aimed at reducing methane emissions and more than $500 million to historically Black colleges and universities.
Read also: Khaby Lame’s Rise Proves Social Media Is Real Work Now
Technology entrepreneurs continue to shape newer areas of giving. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, are investing heavily in projects that use artificial intelligence to accelerate biological research and disease prevention. Google cofounder Sergey Brin has focused much of his philanthropy on neurological research and climate-related work. Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna have supported research on artificial intelligence safety, funding efforts to understand and reduce potential risks from advanced technologies.
Education donors are also shifting priorities. Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings recently donated $50 million to Bowdoin College in Maine to support an initiative examining the relationship between artificial intelligence and society, according to announcements cited by Forbes.
The 2025 list highlights a noticeable gender dimension. Six of the top 25 donors are women acting on their own, and another 11 entries are couples or former spouses. Cecilia Conrad, chief executive of Lever for Change, told Forbes that women often move money out the door more quickly than men. She said people who did not personally build their fortunes may feel less attached to the assets and more willing to take risks with them.
That pattern is visible not only in Scott’s rapid pace but also in the giving of figures such as Marilyn Simons, Edythe Broad, Barbara Picower and Lynn Schusterman, all of whom have directed large portions of their wealth to education, health, social justice and cultural institutions.
One of the most notable aspects of the ranking is who does not appear on it. Elon Musk and Larry Page, two of the richest individuals in the world, are absent from the top 25. Together they are worth more than $1 trillion, according to Forbes estimates, but their publicly disclosed lifetime donations amount to a small fraction of that.
Forbes estimates Musk’s lifetime giving at around $500 million, or about 0.06 percent of his net worth. Page and Brin, the Google cofounders, have also donated smaller shares of their wealth than peers such as Buffett or Scott, based on publicly available data.
Read further: Elon Musk Ends 2025 With A Grand Record $726 Billion Fortune
The magazine notes that some billionaires may be giving through donor-advised funds, which do not require immediate disclosure of where money ultimately goes. Because of that lack of transparency, Forbes does not count those amounts unless they are publicly traceable to operating charities.
Taken together, the figures show that U.S. philanthropy at the very top continues to grow in absolute dollars, but not at the same pace as billionaire wealth. The $275 billion donated by the 25 most generous Americans represents a large sum in historical terms, but still a relatively small share of their collective fortunes.
Forbes said its rankings are based on publicly available information, including regulatory filings, corporate disclosures, foundation reports and interviews with donors or their representatives. The magazine updates the list annually as new gifts are reported.
The next update is expected in early 2026, when Forbes will incorporate disclosures from 2025 tax filings and any major new commitments announced by leading donors.