India’s Jamsetji Tata topped the 2021 EdelGive Hurun Philanthropists of the Century list with total donations calculated at today’s value of $102.4 billion, ahead of Bill and Melinda Gates, who came second with donations valued at $74.6 billion.

This is the first year of the EdelGive Hurun Philanthropists of the Century ranking by Hurun Research and EdelGive Foundation, cataloguing the world’s most generous individuals from the past century.

The ranking is based on Total Philanthropic Value, calculated as the value of the assets today, together with sum of gifts or distributions to date. For example, the Total Philanthropic Value of George Soros is the sum of current endowment value of The Open Society Foundation’s $18 billion, together with donations to date of $16.8 billion, ie, a total of $34.8 billion. “Giving pledges have not considered, due to their non-binding nature,” a statement said.

The world’s 50 most generous individuals in the last century came from five countries, overwhelmingly led by the US with 39, followed by five from the UK, three from China, two from India and one from Portugal and Switzerland each. Their donations amounted to $832 billion, of which $503 billion are in foundations today and $329 billion have been disbursed in the last century.

According to the report, the top 50 philanthropists cumulatively distributed $329 billion over the years. Philanthropists such as Warren Buffet, Mackenzie Scott donated directly or through other foundations. Most of the entrants created their charitable trusts by endowing shares owned in their respective family businesses. In certain cases, their immediate descendants created the charitable foundations, named after their parents.

Vidya Shah, executive chairperson of EdelGive Foundation, said in the age of information overload, the EdelGive Hurun Report enables a more holistic understanding of the trends, motivations and mindsets that drive philanthropy across the world.

“The report lays down a narrative, indicating the path the philanthropic sector has taken to get here/to this point, and charts the course that it may likely take moving forward,” Shah said

“The stories of the world’s biggest philanthropists of the last century tell a tale of modern philanthropy. The legacies of the world’s earliest billionaires such as Carnegie and Rockefeller, through to Bill Gates and Warren Buffet today, show how wealth created has been redistributed,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report.

“Whilst American and European philanthropists may have dominated the thinking of philanthropy over the last century, Jamsetji Tata, founder of India’s Tata Group, is the world’s biggest philanthropist. Many of the philanthropists made the donation in the second generation rather than the first, such as Ford Foundation, which was set up by the son of Henry Ford,” he added.

Hoogewerf said today’s billionaires are not keeping up with philanthropy, making money much faster than they are giving it away. The speed of wealth creation is nothing short of staggering, he said.

“Three individuals added more than $50 billion in a single year, led by Elon Musk with $151 billion, on the back of the rise of e-cars, whilst e-commerce billionaires Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Colin Huang of Pinduoduo added $50 billion each. At this rate, expect to see 50 or more break through the $100 billion mark within the next five years,” he added.