Famous Philanthropists - List of Famous Philanthropists - page 2
Philanthropists are the individuals who strive to contribute to the well-being of humankind through their efforts, time and money. They are actively involved in promoting human welfare, and usually strive to achieve this by making generous donation of money to worthy causes. Philanthropy is often associated with the wealthy as they have more resources to donate, but not everyone who is wealthy is engaged in philanthropy! One of the best known philanthropists of our time is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates who along with his wife Melinda is a co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Equally well known for his philanthropy is American industrialist and investor Warren Buffet who has pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes. Li Ka-shing and George Soros are also noted philanthropists. Several of the modern day philanthropists cite the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie as their inspiration—Carnegie gave away almost 90 percent of his fortune to charities, foundations, and universities. He is also credited to have urged the other wealthy people to use their fortunes to help improve society. Read on to discover about the life and works of various famous philanthropists from all over the world.
List of famous philanthropists with their biographies that include trivia, interesting facts, timeline and life history.
The Most Famous Philanthropists | |||
---|---|---|---|
Name | Birthday | Nationality | Bio |
Kevin Costner | January 18, 1955 | American | Kevin Costner is an American actor, director and singer who is best known for his portrayal of rugged individuals with complex emotions |
Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel | November 6, 1983 | Saudi Arabian | Princess Ameerah Al-Taweel is a Saudi Arabian princess widely recognized for her philanthropy and activism |
Jimmy Page | January 9, 1944 | British | Jimmy Page is an English musician who rose to fame as the guitarist and leader of the rock band Led Zeppelin |
Shakira | February 2, 1977 | Colombian | Shakira is a highly popular award winning Columbian pop singer and dancer |
Max Polyakov | June 30, 1977 | Ukrainian | Max Polyakov is an international businessman, scientist and philanthropist |
Mel Gibson | January 3, 1956 | American | Mel Gibson is an American actor and filmmaker |
Phil Knight | February 24, 1938 | American | Phil Knight is the co-founder of Nike, Inc., one of the world's largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel |
T. B. Joshua | June 12, 1963 | Nigerian | T |
Chris Gardner | February 9, 1954 | American | Chris Gardner is the founder of the famous brokerage enterprise, ‘Gardner Rich & Co.’ |
Sathya Sai Baba | November 23, 1926 | Indian | Sathya Sai Baba was an Indian guru who claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi |
John Eleuthère du Pont
John Eleuthère du Pont was an American philanthropist and heir to the Du Pont family fortune
Cyrus McCormick
Cyrus McCormick was an American industrialist who invented the mechanical reaper and founded the McCormick Harvesting Company
Robert Kraft
Robert Kraft is an American business magnate who is the Chief Executive Officer of The Kraft Group
Ronald Lauder
Ronald Lauder is an American businessman and art collector who opened the art museum Neue Galerie in New York
Lady Bird Johnson
Lady Bird Johnson was the First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969
Reid Hoffman
Reid Hoffman is an American internet entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of LinkedIn
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins was an American entrepreneur and investor who left large endowments in his will to found Johns Hopkins University