TheScrooge List

There is a perverse incentive in philanthropy: the more you give, the more likely you are to make a mistake, get criticized, and give less. Those who do not give do not get criticized.

Science funding is being cut and public goods are retreating. This project makes the — US billionaires sitting on undeployed charitable capacity easier to see. How we sort.

The ledger of the ungiven Each row is one billionaire. The full track is what they could reasonably have given by now: 5% of their spendable wealth, every year since becoming a billionaire (5% matches the legal minimum private foundations must give out annually). The fill is what they have actually given. Sorted worst-first by dollars not given. Click a row for the receipts.

Tier A · Verified low giving Tier B · Probably low giving Tier C · Claimed but unverified On track · giving as much as they reasonably could 100% line · everything they could have given

Cohort stats · Methodology · Report inaccuracies · CSV · JSON

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How to read this

The benchmark: 5% of someone's spendable wealth (cash + tradable stock), each year since they became a billionaire. This is what they could reasonably have given by now. The 5% rate matches the legal minimum private foundations are required to give out annually under US tax law.

Tier A: we're confident they've given little. Documented giving is low AND we could not find any anonymous account (donor-advised fund), private LLC, or offshore trust that would plausibly close the gap. Click through for the evidence.
Tier B: probably low. Documented giving is low, but at least one place where money could be held in secret exists. We cannot prove they're not giving in private; public records just don't show it.
Tier C: we can't say for sure. Most of their giving flows through a private LLC or anonymous account that doesn't have to disclose anything publicly.
On Track: these aren't Scrooges. Their documented giving meets or exceeds the benchmark.

The Saints

Same 51 billionaires, opposite end. These ones cleared the benchmark. Sorted by total documented giving, largest first. Toggle above to see the Scrooges.

Tier A · Verified low giving

Ranked by total dollars not given. We can't find an anonymous account or private fund that would plausibly close their gap. (how we sort)

Tier B · Probably low giving

Documented giving is low, but at least one anonymous account exists somewhere in their structure. Sorted by dollars not given.

Name	Net Worth	Documented	Dollars not given	Pattern

Tier C · Claimed but unverified

A private LLC or anonymous account sits between this person and any disclosed giving. Numbers below are what they claim; the gap shown is a floor.

Name	Net Worth	Claimed giving	Apparent gap	Where it's hidden

On Track

Not Scrooges. Their documented giving clears the benchmark, verified through foundation tax filings or published LLC grant databases.

Name	Net Worth	Documented giving	vs. benchmark	Notes

What this list doesn't claim

We can verify roughly 40 to 70% of what a billionaire actually gives. The rest happens through anonymous accounts, private LLCs, and offshore trusts that don't have to disclose. So a high bucket means: we couldn't find the giving. It doesn't mean it isn't there.

Full methodology →

Found something we missed?

We contact every Tier A and Tier B billionaire before publishing and give them a week to reply. Replies go on their profile, unedited. If you can show us giving we missed and link a source, we'll fix it.

Open an issue on GitHub. Include the URL.