Generous Billionaires
On Mar 30, in category: LifestyleHEINZ-HORST DEICHMANN
$1.6 billion
Cause: leprosy
After a trip to India 25 years ago, Deichmann established four villages for patients of Hansen’s disease (leprosy) in the poor southern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Lepers living there receive medical care and job training; Deichmann visits annually. He supports other programs in the region, such as homes for children with polio, schools and hospitals, including one specializing in lung diseases. His programs, which employ only locals, assist 80,000 people in India each year.
DIETMAR HOPP
$1 billion
Cause: fighting overzealous prosecutors
Co-founder of German software firm SAP was livid after police wrongfully searched his home in early 2003. The prosecutor who had authorized the search accused Hopp of using SAP shares from his foundation to secure a loan to a friend. After clearing his name–in fact, Hopp had personally secured the loan–he started the ProJustitia Foundation with an initial $3.3 million to study and remedy similar cases of overzealous prosecution.
HANS RAUSING
$8.2 billion
Cause: dying languages
Heir to a packaging and container fortune, Rausing made a $38 million grant through trusts to the Endangered Languages Project in 2002 to document 100 languages threatened with extinction. Among them: Alaska’s Aleut, spoken fluently by only 70 to 100 people; Eastern Nepal’s Koyi Rai, uttered by 2,000 people; and Togla in the South Pacific’s Vanuatu, which has one remaining speaker. A combination of field reports and video and audio recordings is used to create archives of the languages.
DAVID DUFFIELD
$1.3 billion
Cause: animal shelters
PeopleSoft founder pledged $200 million to Maddie’s Fund in 1999, after his favorite miniature schnauzer, Maddie, died. (The amount was the most ever given by an individual to animal welfare.) So far, the fund has given away nearly $50 million for the creation of a “no-kill nation.” Supports neutering/spaying programs, provides tips on how to make pets more adoptable (such as grooming and behavior training) and funds veterinary colleges to set up shelter medicine programs.
MICHAEL HILTI
$2.6 billion
Cause: treasure hunting
Construction tycoon and antiquities buff is sole supporter of underwater digs by French archaeologist Franck Goddio, who searches for ancient treasures in the port of Alexandria and the bay of Aboukir, Egypt. Of course, Hilti can’t keep the plunder. It all belongs to Egypt.
WILLIAM GATES III
$46.5 billion
Cause: egalitarian health and learning
The world’s richest man has given away $28 billion, approximately 38% of his net worth, to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa, to improve New York City public schools and to increase computer use by Native Americans. His goal: close global gaps in public health and education. In March, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for efforts to reduce poverty in parts of the Commonwealth and other developing world countries.
