
The math
25%
of the fortune, given in one year.
MacKenzie Scott Gives Away $7 Billion In One Year ... A Quarter Of What She's Got
25% of the fortune, or $48,360 for a typical family.
Elon Musk has given away about $620 million in his life. To a typical family, that's like giving $143. Ever.
New: what their own foundations actually paid out, year by year from the IRS filings, at WhatTheyGive.com →
Generosity measured the only fair way: as a share of what they have. Then the same share of a typical American family's net worth ($192,900), so the number means something. Stingiest first.
Forbes estimates of lifetime giving actually paid out (pledges and money parked in their own foundations do not count), as a share of the fortune. Then the same share of a typical family's net worth.
$620 million given (through 2023)
0.074%
Like a typical family giving $143 in its whole life.
Forbes, America's Most Generous Philanthropists 2025Less than 1% of the fortune given (2026)
<1.0%
Like a typical family giving less than $1,929 in its whole life.
Forbes 400 Philanthropy Score 2026 (score 1: under 1%)Donald Trump
Less than 1% of the fortune given (2026)
<1.0%
Like a typical family giving less than $1,929 in its whole life.
Forbes 400 Philanthropy Score 2026 (score 1: under 1%)Ralph Lauren
Less than 1% of the fortune given (2026)
<1.0%
Like a typical family giving less than $1,929 in its whole life.
Forbes 400 Philanthropy Score 2026 (score 1: under 1%)$3.33 billion given (2024)
1.7%
Like a typical family giving $3,279 in its whole life.
Forbes via Fox 13, March 2024 (2026 Philanthropy Score: 2, meaning 1 to 5%)Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan
$4.5 billion given (2024)
2.7%
Like a typical family giving $5,208 in its whole life.
Forbes via Fox 13, March 2024Steve & Connie Ballmer
$3.75 billion given (2024)
3.1%
Like a typical family giving $5,980 in its whole life.
Forbes via Fox 13, March 2024$1.44 billion given (2024)
3.9%
Like a typical family giving $7,523 in its whole life.
Forbes via Fox 13, March 2024 (share against Forbes 2026 fortune)Phil & Penny Knight
$3.6 billion given (2024)
8.5%
Like a typical family giving $16,397 over a lifetime.
Forbes via Fox 13, March 2024$25.4 billion given (2026)
19%
Like a typical family giving $36,651 over a lifetime.
Forbes Top Givers 2026Bill Gates & Melinda French Gates
$47.7 billion given (2025)
26%
Like a typical family giving $50,154 over a lifetime.
Forbes, America's Most Generous Philanthropists 2025Warren Buffett
$72.6 billion given (2026)
34%
Like a typical family giving $64,622 over a lifetime.
Forbes Top Givers 2026$26.4 billion given (2026)
46%
Like a typical family giving $88,734 over a lifetime.
Forbes Top Givers 2026George Soros
$24 billion given (2025)
76%
Like a typical family giving $146,604 over a lifetime.
Forbes, America's Most Generous Philanthropists 2025Not on Forbes' 2026 list of America's top 25 givers: Elon Musk, Larry Page and Larry Ellison, three of the richest people alive. (In 2025, making that list took at least $1.9 billion in lifetime giving.)
The biggest documented gifts of 2025 from the Chronicle of Philanthropy's Philanthropy 50, against each giver's Forbes 2026 fortune.
Michael & Susan Dell
$975 million given in 2025 (fortune $141 billion)
0.69%
Like a typical family giving $1,334 this year.
Chronicle of Philanthropy, Philanthropy 50 (2026)Warren Buffett
$1.3 billion given in 2025 (fortune $149 billion)
0.87%
Like a typical family giving $1,683 this year.
Chronicle of Philanthropy, Philanthropy 50 (2026)Phil & Penny Knight
$866.2 million given in 2025 (fortune $31.1 billion)
2.8%
Like a typical family giving $5,373 this year.
Chronicle of Philanthropy via News4Jax, March 2026$3.7 billion given in 2025 (fortune $108 billion)
3.4%
Like a typical family giving $6,609 this year.
Chronicle of Philanthropy, Philanthropy 50 (2026)$4.3 billion given in 2025 (fortune $109.4 billion)
3.9%
Like a typical family giving $7,582 this year.
Chronicle of Philanthropy, Philanthropy 50 (2026)$7.17 billion given in 2025 (fortune $28.6 billion)
25%
Like a typical family giving $48,360 this year.
CNBC, Dec 2025 (her own disclosure; not on the Chronicle list, which could not verify it)
The math
25%
of the fortune, given in one year.
25% of the fortune, or $48,360 for a typical family.

The math
4 years
in a row below the legal minimum.
4 years in a row below the legal minimum.