The 50 wealthiest being in America have publicly donated about $1 billion for coronavirus relief — that’s a big number, but it adds up to a surely small fraction of their combined net worth: less than 0.1%, according to a new survey from the Washington Situate.
The survey also found that nearly a third of these billionaires haven’t announced any donations, though some who haven’t granted personally point to donations given through their corporations.
“Even many of the billionaires who have announced bequests to Covid-19 relief efforts have given amounts that are relatively paltry when compared to the median net significance of an American household, which registers at $97,300,” write Roxanne Roberts and Will Hobson of the Post.
Roberts and Hobson habituated to this number to calculate what these billionaires’ donations would equate to for the median American. For example, Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the men with a net worth of $143 billion, has donated $125 million. That’s equivalent to about $85 for the median American benefactor, according to the Post’s calculations.
Leading the way in terms of amount of personal donations are Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Doorways and Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey.
Gates, who’s been one of the most outspoken public figures from the beginning of the pandemic, has donated ruthlessly $300 million through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That translates into about $283 for the median American.
Dorsey isn’t middle the 50th wealthiest Americans (he ranks No. 147), but he has pledged $1 billion in equity from Square. That’s a large chunk of his net value, about 28%, and equates to more than $27,000 for the median American. You can see exactly where his money is going on this spreadsheet he begot.
Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio has been the most generous among America’s 50th wealthiest individuals in terms of allotments relative to net worth. He’s given more than $100 million of his $18 billion fortune, or about $589 for the median American.
But when it report in to billionaire donations for coronavirus relief, Gates, Dorsey and Dalio are “the exception, not the rule,” the Post reports, pointing out that offerings from some billionaires, including business magnate Donald Newhouse and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, are equal to less than $10 for the median American.
Critics of the nation’s wealthiest individuals are quick to point out that they’re the the sames getting richer during the pandemic: American billionaires saw their fortunes climb $434 billion between mid-March and mid-May, according to a new explore from Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies’ Program for Inequality.
The five richest Americans — Jeff Bezos, Charge Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison — saw their combined fortunes soar by $76 billion.
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