2024’s Top Gift: Billion-Dollar Donation from Netflix Founder Reed Hastings

In 2024, the Chronicle of Philanthropy compiled a list of the year’s most significant donations, totaling almost $6 billion. Among the top contributions were three gifts of over $1 billion each. Notably, half of the total donated amount went towards financial aid programs, with medical schools receiving two of the largest gifts.

Impressively, six of the donors on the list are multibillionaires, with a combined net worth estimated at $365 billion. Topping the list is Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder, with a donation to his Hastings Fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The donation, valued at $1.1 billion, consisted of 2 million shares of Netflix stock. Hastings and his wife, Patty Quillin, established their fund in 2016, mainly focusing on supporting educational organizations.

Following Hastings is Michael Bloomberg, who donated $1 billion through Bloomberg Philanthropies to Johns Hopkins University. The gift aims to make medical school free for most students and provide increased financial aid to nursing and public health students at the university. Bloomberg, a graduate of Johns Hopkins, has donated at least $3.5 billion to his alma mater.

Another notable donation came from Ruth Gottesman, who gave $1 billion to Albert Einstein College of Medicine to support free tuition for students. Gottesman, a professor emerita, has a long-standing history with the medical school, making this significant contribution to advance education in the field.

Warren Buffett also made the list with a substantial donation of his own. Buffett’s contribution of 1.5 million shares uplifts the philanthropic efforts seen in 2024. Each of these donations represents a powerful commitment to supporting various causes, from education to healthcare and beyond.