For the second year in a row, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg gave the most to charitable causes, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s exclusive Philanthropy 50 list of the Americans who donated the largest sums to nonprofits last year.
In 2024, he gave a total of $3.7 billion to support arts, education, the environment, public-health groups, and programs aimed at improving city governments. He gives directly to charities and through his Bloomberg Philanthropies, which last year awarded a $1 billion grant to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, to make medical school free and to provide financial aid to nursing and public health students.
“I’ve never understood people who wait until they die to give away their wealth. Why deny yourself the satisfaction?” he wrote in an email to the Chronicle. “I’ve been very lucky, and I’m determined to do what I can to open doors for others and to leave a…
