Technology executives are some of the wealthiest people in the world. While many, like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates, are known for giving away their wealth generously, others are relative scrooges in comparison. Data from Inside Philanthropy shows the most and least generous executives within the technology industry.
It should be noted, however, that some billionaires choose to give anonymously, which means these results could be skewed. In addition, even the least generous technology executives make donations that still dwarf the average size of contributions charities receive.
Microsoft’s Bill Gates not the most generous, percentage wise
According to the data, the most generous technology executive is Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) co-founder Leonard Bosack and his ex-wife Sandy Lerner are at the top of the heap. They received a total of $170 million worth of Cisco stock when they left the company and donated 70% of it to charity. Much of that was given to the Bosack / Kruger Foundation, which focuses on animal welfare.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) founder Gordon Moore has joined the Giving Pledge and said he would donate at least half of his wealth to charity. He has made donations to several organizations, most of which are in education and conservation.
In third place is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates, whose generosity is very well-known. His net worth is $77.5 billion, so while percentagewise he might give less than the first two on the list, he also makes more than them. He has also pledged most of his money to charity after he started the Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett. Together, they urge the world’s billionaires to also pledge large chunks of their fortunes to charity.
Jeff Bezos is the least generous
Within the technology industry, Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos gives the least compared to other executives. He’s worth about $24.7 billion, but he doesn’t think much of non-profit organizations. He thinks for-profit companies improve the world more than non-profit entities too.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) co-founder Larry Page is of a similar mind, although he thinks people should donate to techies instead of charities. In fact, he has said he plans to donate to Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk because he appreciates his work.
And finally, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) founder and former CEO Jerry Yang is the third least generous, donating $75 million compared to his net worth of $2.1 billion.
Here are all the numbers and a lot more additional information in a nice infographic put together by Who Is Hosting This:
