Many of them are. Scroll through Wikipedia's list of wealthiest charitable foundations.[1]
And instead of starting their own foundations, a lot of wealthy people quietly give to existing ones. To pick one example: The founders of Netflix, GoPro, WhatsApp, Microsoft, and Facebook have all donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.[2]
In terms of both absolute dollars and percentage of GDP, the US is the most charitable country on the planet. In 2016, Americans donated $258.5 billion to charities, or 1.44% of GDP.[3] The next most charitable country was New Zealand, which donated 0.79% of GDP. Since then, the US has become even more charitable. In 2023, Americans donated $557.16 billion to charities[4], or 2% of GDP.
And this doesn't include non-charitable improvements in the human condition such as better internet access, new drugs, cheaper solar cells, cheaper batteries, and increased adoption of electric vehicles. I agree that there's plenty of room for improvement, but quality of life today is better than it ever has been.
And instead of starting their own foundations, a lot of wealthy people quietly give to existing ones. To pick one example: The founders of Netflix, GoPro, WhatsApp, Microsoft, and Facebook have all donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.[2]
In terms of both absolute dollars and percentage of GDP, the US is the most charitable country on the planet. In 2016, Americans donated $258.5 billion to charities, or 1.44% of GDP.[3] The next most charitable country was New Zealand, which donated 0.79% of GDP. Since then, the US has become even more charitable. In 2023, Americans donated $557.16 billion to charities[4], or 2% of GDP.
And this doesn't include non-charitable improvements in the human condition such as better internet access, new drugs, cheaper solar cells, cheaper batteries, and increased adoption of electric vehicles. I agree that there's plenty of room for improvement, but quality of life today is better than it ever has been.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_charitable_...
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley_Community_Found...
3. https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-polic...
4. https://www.nptrust.org/philanthropic-resources/charitable-g...