| Donor
| Donor State
| Recipient
| Recipient State
| Category
| Gift Amount
|
Warren E. Buffett
Investments |
Nebraska |
NoVo Foundation (New York) |
New York |
Foundations |
$1.2-billion  |
| Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment company in Omaha, pledged shares of Berkshire Hathaway class "B" stock worth $1,027,773,653 to each of his three children's foundations: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which fights poverty; Susan Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, which supports social justice and early-childhood education; and Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of women and girls. These new pledges are being made on top of the $1-billion he previously donated to each foundation in 2006. Mr. Buffett said he would pay the three foundations 5 percent of the remaining balance of the shares every year until his death. The amount of the pledges is based on the value of the stock on the day Mr. Buffett announced them. |
Warren E. Buffett
Investments |
Nebraska |
Howard G. Buffett Foundation (Decatur, Ill.) |
Illinois |
Foundations |
$1.2-billion |
| Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment company in Omaha, pledged shares of Berkshire Hathaway class "B" stock worth $1,027,773,653 to each of his three children's foundations: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which fights poverty; Susan Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, which supports social justice and early-childhood education; and Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of women and girls. These new pledges are being made on top of the $1-billion he previously donated to each foundation in 2006. Mr. Buffett said he would pay the three foundations 5 percent of the remaining balance of the shares every year until his death. The amount of the pledges is based on the value of the stock on the day Mr. Buffett announced them. |
Warren E. Buffett
Investments |
Nebraska |
Sherwood Foundation (Omaha) |
Nebraska |
Foundations |
$1.2-billion |
| Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, an insurance and investment company in Omaha, pledged shares of Berkshire Hathaway class "B" stock worth $1,027,773,653 to each of his three children's foundations: the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which fights poverty; Susan Buffett's Sherwood Foundation, which supports social justice and early-childhood education; and Peter Buffett's NoVo Foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of women and girls. These new pledges are being made on top of the $1-billion he previously donated to each foundation in 2006. Mr. Buffett said he would pay the three foundations 5 percent of the remaining balance of the shares every year until his death. The amount of the pledges is based on the value of the stock on the day Mr. Buffett announced them. |
Mark Zuckerberg
Technology |
California |
Silicon Valley Community Foundation (Mountain View, Calif.) |
California |
Community foundations |
$498.7-million |
| Silicon Valley Community Foundation (Mountain View, Calif.) has received a gift of 18 million shares of Facebook stock worth $498.8-million from Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and chief executive officer of the online social network. On his Facebook page, Mr. Zuckerberg said the gift will go to health and education causes, but was not more specific. |
Paul G. Allen
Technology |
Washington |
Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle) |
Washington |
Science |
$300-million |
| Allen Institute for Brain Science (Seattle) has received a pledge of $300-million over four years from Paul G. Allen to expand its research programs and double its staff. Mr. Allen is a co-founder of Microsoft and founder and head of Vulcan Inc., an investment company in Seattle. To date, he has donated $500-million to the institute. |
Mortimer B. Zuckerman
Media and entertainment, Real estate |
New York |
Columbia U. (New York) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$200-million |
| Columbia U. (New York) has received a $200-million pledge from Mortimer B. Zuckerman, chairman and editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report and New York Daily News, and chairman and chief executive officer of Boston Properties, to endow the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at the university. The gift will also support interdisciplinary research in the field of neuroscience. |
Fred W. Fields
Manufacturing |
California |
Oregon Community Foundation (Portland) |
Oregon |
Community foundations |
$166-million
Bequest |
| Oregon Community Foundation (Portland) has received a bequest of $166-million from Fred W. Fields, former president of Coe Manufacturing Company, in Tigard, Ore., to establish the Fields Fund to support education and the arts. He died in December of 2011. |
Carl C. Icahn
Investments |
New York |
Mount Sinal School of Medicine (New York) |
New York |
Colleges and universities |
$150-million |
| Mount Sinal School of Medicine (New York) has received a pledge of $150-million from the investor Carl C. Icahn for medical research. Mr. Icahn has been a trustee of the school since 2000 and previously gave $50-million in total to Mount Sinai. The school will be renamed after him. |
Guy David Gundlach
Insurance |
California |
Elkhart County Community Foundation (Elkhart, Ind.) |
Indiana |
Community foundations |
$140-million
Bequest |
| Elkhart County Community Foundation (Elkhart, Ind.) has received a bequest of $140-million in cash and 10 properties located all over the world from Guy (David) Gundlach, founder of Hastings Direct, an online car-insurance company in Bexhill-on-Sea, England, he sold to the Insurance Australia Group in 2006 for over $220-million. The gift is unrestricted. Mr. Gundlach died in October 2011. |
Philip H. and Penelope Knight
Manufacturing |
Oregon |
Oregon Health & Science U. (Portland) |
Oregon |
Colleges and universities |
$125-million |
| Oregon Health & Science U. (Portland) has received a pledge of $125-million over five years to establish an institute for cardiovascular research and care. Mr. Knight is a co-founder and the chairman of Nike, in Beaverton, Ore. The Knights pledged $100-million for the university's cancer institute in 2008. |
Harriet Heyman and Michael Moritz
Finance, Technology |
California |
U. of Oxford (England) |
N/A |
Colleges and universities |
$116.4-million |
| U. of Oxford (England) has received a challenge grant of $116.4-million from Harriet Heyman and Michael Moritz to provide tuition assistance to students whose families makes less than $25,000 annually. The gift will be made in three installments, with each portion matched by the university's investment returns from its endowment and followed by a challenge for donors to contribute equal amounts to reach a goal of $467-million. Mr. Moritz is chairman of Sequoia Capital, a venture-capital firm in Menlo Park, Calif., that was an early investor in Google, Yahoo, and PayPal. He earned a master of arts degree in history from Oxford in 1976. His father also attended the university. The couple donated $50-million to Oxford in 2008. |
David Geffen Foundation (David Geffen)
Entertainment |
California |
U. of California at Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$100-million |
U. of California at Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine, in Los Angeles, has received $100-million from the David Geffen Foundation to establish a scholarship fund. The scholarships will be awarded based on merit and recipients will graduate debt free. Mr. Geffen is a co-founder of DreamWorks Studios SKG and founder of Geffen Records. In 2002, he donated $200-million to the school and it was named after him.
a co-founder of DreamWorks Studios SKG and founder of Geffen Records |
John A. Paulson
Finance |
New York |
Central Park Conservancy (New York) |
New York |
Other groups |
$100-million |
| Central Park Conservancy (New York) has received a pledge of $100-million over five years from John A. Paulson, president and portfolio manager of Paulson & Company, a hedge fund in New York, for its endowment and capital projects. The gift will be evenly split between the two priorities. Mr. Paulson is a board member and a longtime donor. |
David H. Koch
Oil |
New York |
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) |
New York |
Museums and libraries |
$65-million |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) has received a pledge of $65-million from David H. Koch to renovate its Fifth Avenue plaza and fountains. Mr. Koch is executive vice president for Koch Industries, an oil and gas refinery in Wichita, Kan., that was founded by his father, Fred C. Koch. He is a trustee of the museum. |
Simons Foundation (James and Marilyn Simons)
Finance |
New York |
U. of California at Berkeley |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$60-million |
| U. of California at Berkeley has received $60-million from the Simons Foundation, the personal foundation of James and Marilyn Simons, to establish the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. Mr. Simons is the founder and chair of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund in East Setauket, N.Y. |
Fielding family
Investments |
California |
U. of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$50-million |
| U. of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health has received a pledge of $50-million from the Fielding family, to support faculty, students, and academic programs. One of these efforts will be to endow a chair in population health. Jonathan Fielding is director of public health at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services and professor of health services and pediatrics at UCLA. He is making this gift along with his wife, Karin, and their sons, Andrew and Preston. The gift, worth about $50 million, is of stock associated with holdings in Dimensional Fund Advisors. The school will receive an income stream from the assets. |
Harrington family
Health products, Retail |
Ohio |
University Hospitals (Cleveland) |
Ohio |
Health |
$50-million |
| University Hospitals (Cleveland) has received a gift of $50-million from the Harrington family to accelerate the development of new drugs. The family owned Edgepark Medical, a mail-order medical-supply company in Twinsburg, Ohio, which they sold in 2010. |
Jeff and Judy Henley
Technology |
California |
U. of California at Santa Barbara |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$50-million |
| U. of California at Santa Barbara has received a pledge of $50-million from Jeff and Judy Henley for its Institute for Energy Efficiency and the College of Engineering. Most of the gift, $30-million, will support Henley Hall---the future base of the IEE---and faculty recruitment for both the institute and the College of Engineering. The remainder will go to engineering programs. Mr. Henley is chairman of Oracle, the computer-software company in Redwood Shores, Calif. He graduated from the university in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in economics. |
Eugene M. Lang
Manufacturing, Technology |
New York |
Swarthmore College (Pa.) |
Pennsylvania |
Colleges and universities |
$50-million |
| Swarthmore College (Pa.) has received a pledge of $50-million from Eugene M. Lang, founder of patenting firm Refac Technology Development, in New York, for new engineering and science facilities. Mr. Lang graduated from Swarthmore with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1938. |
Joshua P. Rechnitz
Family wealth |
New York |
New York City Fieldhouse (Brooklyn) |
New York |
Other groups |
$50-million |
| New York City Fieldhouse (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has received a pledge of $50-million from Joshua P. Rechnitz to underwrite the design and construction costs of a year-round indoor community recreation facility. Mr. Rechnitz is founder and chairman of the nonprofit. |
George R. Roberts
Finance |
California |
Claremont McKenna College (Calif.) |
California |
Colleges and universities |
$50-million |
| Claremont McKenna College (Calif.) has received a pledge of $50-million from George R. Roberts, co-chairman and co-chief executive officer of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company, an international private-equity firm in New York, for its $600-million capital campaign. Mr. Roberts graduated from the college in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in economics and is a trustee. |
Ernest Scheller Jr.
Family wealth, Manufacturing |
Pennsylvania |
Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta) |
Georgia |
Colleges and universities |
$50-million |
| Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta) has received a gift of $50-million from Ernest Scheller Jr., chairman emeritus of Silberline Manufacturing, a supplier of pigments in Tamaqua, Pa., to support the endowment of the College of Business. Mr. Scheller graduated from the university in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in industrial management. Before this gift, Mr. Scheller had given $2.9-million to Georgia Tech. |
Delores Barr Weaver
Investments |
Florida |
Community Foundation in Jacksonville (Fla.) |
Florida |
Community foundations |
$50-million |
| Community Foundation in Jacksonville (Fla.) has received a gift of $50-million from Delores Barr Weaver to establish a donor-advised fund. Ms. Weaver and her husband, Wayne, were the former majority owners of the Jacksonville Jaguars professional football team, in Florida. |
Ethel Strong Allen
Family wealth |
New York |
Hackley School (Tarrytown, N.Y.) |
New York |
Education |
$49.3-million
Bequest |
| Hackley School (Tarrytown, N.Y.) has received a $49.3-million bequest from the sale of three paintings owned by Ethel Strong Allen, widow of Herbert Allen Sr., co-founder of Allen and Company, an investment firm in New York. The paintings were "Nympheas" by Claude Monet, "Pommiers et faneuse, Eragny" by Camille Pisarro, and "L'allee des peupliers a Moret au bord du Loing" by Alfred Sisley. Ms. Allen's son, Herbert Jr., graduated from the school in 1958. Herbert Sr. was a trustee for 37 years. Ms. Allen died in June 2012. |
Leon and Debra Black
Finance |
New York |
Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.) |
New Hampshire |
Colleges and universities |
$48-million |
| Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.) has received a pledge of $48-million from Leon and Debra Black to construct a new visual-arts center. Mr. Black is the founder and chief executive officer of Apollo Global Management, an investment firm in New York. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and history. |
