OCTOBER 20 20MARTINSCHOELLER/AUGUST24
FRONTRUNNER- BILL GATES
$111 billion © • SELF-MADE SCORE:u
SOURCE: Microsoft
AGE: 64 • RESIDENCE: Medina, WA
PHILANTHROPY SCORE: yyyy
The self-taught health expert warned about
the risk of a global pandemic in a prescient
2015 TED talk. The Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation has committed to spending
more than $350 million to fund Covid-19
vaccines, treatments and tests, and help dis-
tribute them in developing countries. The
foundation matched 50% of funds raised
for teachers via DonorsChoose on August 11.
3. MARK ZUCKERBERG
$85 billion (^) © • SELF-MADE SCORE:u
SOURCE: Facebook
AGE: 36 • RESIDENCE: Palo Alto, CA
PHILANTHROPY SCORE: yy
Both Facebook use and ad revenue have
grown during the pandemic. Over a thou-
sand advertisers, including Adidas and
Clorox, joined a boycott starting in mid-
June to oppose what they say is the social
media giant’s weak policing of hate speech
and misleading political ads. In late June,
Zuckerberg said he would start banning
more ads that contain hateful content.
4. WARREN BUFFETT
$73.5 billion (^) ª • SELF-MADE SCORE:u
SOURCE: Berkshire Hathaway
AGE: 90 • RESIDENCE: Omaha, NE
PHILANTHROPY SCORE: yyyyy
The renowned value investor largely sat
out the Covid-19 crisis until his Omaha,
Nebraska–based conglomerate, Berkshire
Hathaway, secured its biggest acquisition
in four years, agreeing to buy Dominion
Energy’s natural-gas pipelines for $9.7
billion in cash and debt in July. This is the
first year since 2000 that Buffett—who
has given away more than $40 billion
overall, mostly through the Bill & Melin-
da Gates Foundation—has fallen below
the No. 3 spot on The Forbes 400.
- LARRY ELLISON
$72 billion^ © • SELF-MADE SCORE:v
SOURCE: Software
AGE: 76 • RESIDENCE: Woodside, CA
PHILANTHROPY SCORE: y
His software firm, Oracle, helped the
United States government build a data-
base to track the results of Covid-19
treatments and a website that signed up
100,000 volunteers for Phase 3 clinical
trials for vaccines in just its first week.
Meanwhile, Ellison’s stake in electric car-
maker Tesla has quadrupled to $4 billion
in value since December 2018, when he
joined its board. - STEVE BALLMER
$69 billion^ © • SELF-MADE SCORE:s
SOURCE: Microsoft
AGE: 64 • RESIDENCE: Hunts Point, WA
PHILANTHROPY SCORE: yy
The former Microsoft CEO has pledged
$40 million to combat the Covid-19 crisis,
including $10 million to the University of
Washington School of Medicine to speed
up vaccine development. In Washington,
Ballmer has given more than $6 million
statewide for coronavirus relief, includ-
ing to a food-bank relief fund. In March,
he purchased the Forum sports and con-
cert arena in Inglewood, California, for
$400 million. That acquisition neatly
sidestepped lawsuits filed by the Forum’s
previous owners, which had aimed to pre-
vent Ballmer from building a new arena
nearby for his NBA team, the Los Ange-
les Clippers. - ELON MUSK
$68 billion^ © • SELF-MADE SCORE:u
SOURCE: Tesla, SpaceX
AGE: 49 • RESIDENCE: Los Angeles, CA
PHILANTHROPY SCORE: y
The eccentric mogul has kept his name superglued to the
headlines. In December, he beat a defamation suit filed by
a British cave explorer he called a “pedo guy.” In May, as his
rocket company, SpaceX, announced it had raised $346
million at a $35.9 billion valuation, he and singer Grimes
had a child, his seventh. That same month, Musk tweeted
that he was “selling almost all physical possessions,”
“will own no house”—and followed up by putting seven
California homes on the market. Tesla stock has increased
more than sixfold since September 2019, adding some
$48.1 billion, including two enormous option grants he
received as part of a compensation plan, to his fortune.SIGNATORY OF THE GIVING PLEDGE: CHANGE IN WEALTH KEY: ©UP ªDOWN § ̈UNCHANGED ®NEW TO LIST RETURNEEWEALTH INHERITED VS. SELF-MADE SCORE: nopqrstuvw PHILANTHROPY SCORE: (^) ylyyyyy
ELON
MUSK
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