The ProPublica outlet recently revealed that American billionaires pay little or no federal income tax on their immense fortunes, and the details are deeply baffling to anyone except the most ardent advocates of the rich and famous. For the rest of us, it’s hard to understand how, for example, the richest man in the world – Jeff Bezos – not only benefits from a tax rate of less than 1%, but claims $ 4,000. into child tax credits designed to help low-income families on its returns. And remember he is one of the American billionaires who got richer during COVID.

While there will always be billionaires with phalanxes of accountants who create complex tax avoidance strategies, some of the richest men and women in the country have ceded at least some of their vast fortunes. 24/7 Wall St. has compiled a ranking of those who donated the most of their net worth.

In total, their contributions total $ 155 billion out of a net worth of $ 799 billion, the average being $ 5.7 billion out of nearly $ 30 billion. But averages mask outliers. The major donors on the list are globally recognized names: Buffet, Gates, Bloomberg and Soros, three of whom are among the the 30 richest Americans of all time.

Click here to discover the identity of America’s most generous billionaires.

To determine which billionaires gave the most of their net worth, 24/7 Wall St. examined “The 25 Most Philanthropic Billionaires” posted by Forbes, as well as information from Bloomberg and other sources, and ranked donors according to the percentage of their net worth donated to philanthropic causes. Ranking is based only on dollars committed and donations that were actually made, disregarding pledges, donations to tax-efficient accounts, and philanthropy from extended families of heirs, like the Waltons. Foreign nationals were excluded. Lifetime gifts have been calculated through 2020 and net worth as of January 14, 2021.

But this ranking also puts its top hat on the billionaires who have given up a much larger share. These less advertised donors include a retired banker who says he can’t get rid of his money fast enough, a widow who advocates for LGBT rights, and a 90-year-old billionaire who has given almost every penny of his fortune to $ 8 billion. .