philanthropy

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New York's Art World Wonders Who Will Step Up Next

New York Times looks at the hole left by the deaths of Leonard Lauder and Agnes Gund

(Newser) - Two of the most influential art patrons in New York, Leonard Lauder and Agnes Gund, have died this year, and the New York Times both extols their largess and asks who will fill their shoes. Lauder, known for his record-setting $131 million donation to the Whitney Museum of American Art...

Scott Gives Away Billions. She Once Had to Borrow $1K

College roommate long ago loaned the future billionaire money so she could stay at Princeton

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott, one of the world's wealthiest women and most influential philanthropists, is now known for her "no strings attached" surprise donations. But, as a Princeton sophomore, she learned what it was like to be on the receiving end of generosity. Facing the prospect of dropping out if...

MrBeast's Unlikely New Partner: the Rockefeller Foundation

YouTube star and old school charity foundation are looking to inspire youth philanthropy

(Newser) - One of the most storied American philanthropies is teaming up with the internet's biggest creator to an attempt to instill young people with a concern for what they call the world's "most vulnerable" populations. Beast Philanthropy, the charitable organization started by MrBeast founder Jimmy Donaldson, and the...

Billie Eilish Slams Musk in Wake of Tesla Trillionaire Deal
Musk Responds
to Billie Eilish's Barbs
UPDATED
Nov 18, 2025 11:39 AM CST

Musk Responds to Billie Eilish's Barbs

After singer called Musk 'pathetic,' Tesla CEO reacts with some jabs of his own

(Newser) - Elon Musk is clapping back at Billie Eilish after the pop singer called him a "pathetic" expletive, expletive "coward" following Tesla's approval of a pay package that one day could make Musk the world's first trillionaire. Per Rolling Stone , Musk took to his X platform to...

The Bezoses Are Funding 'the Party of the Year'

Couple to put money toward the 2026 Met Gala, which will focus on 'costume art'

(Newser) - Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, are stepping into the fashion spotlight as the new backers of the Met Gala—aka "the Oscars of fashion." Organizers announced Sunday that the couple will be partially funding the 2026 Met Gala and its accompanying Costume Institute...

MacKenzie Scott Continues Her HBCU Spending Spree

Philanthropist donates $700M to Black colleges across US, in a 'sea change' in philanthropy

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has made headlines again with a monumental $700 million donation to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the United States. The gifts, which range from $19 million for Arkansas' Philander Smith University to an $80 million windfall for...

'Chronically Underfunded' Nonprofits Get $250M Boost

Melinda French Gates gives grants to more than 80 women's health organizations

(Newser) - More than 80 organizations that provide global health care for women received grants Wednesday totaling $250 million from Melinda French Gates after a yearlong application process. French Gates said the majority of recipients of the Action for Women's Health challenge haven't previously received funding from her organization, Pivotal,...

Buffett's Original 'Giving Pledge' Now Does 'Not Prove Feasible'

Billionaire's kids will now control annual charitable giving

(Newser) - In a candid letter to shareholders this week, Warren Buffett admitted his original vision for large-scale philanthropy through the Giving Pledge hasn't panned out as he'd hoped. Now 95 and still worth about $150 billion, Buffett confessed that his original plans for giving away his fortune "did...

Buffett Tells Shareholders His Exit Plans

Berkshire Hathaway CEO is hurrying efforts to distribute his wealth

(Newser) - Warren Buffett, the 95-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, announced Monday in a letter to shareholders that he will be "going quiet" soon, invoking a Britishism to describe his plan for stepping down at the end of the year. And Buffett said he'll end his decades-long tradition of penning...

MacKenzie Scott Makes One of Her Biggest Nonprofit Gifts Ever

Billionaire philanthropist donates $60M to Center for Disaster Philanthropy

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott, one of the world's richest women and most influential philanthropists, has donated $60 million to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, according to a Tuesday announcement from the nonprofit. The donation is among the largest single gifts that Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has made...

Salesforce Exec's Trump Comments Spur Board Member's Resignation

Benioff's support for Trump, Guard deployment sparks board rift

(Newser) - A high-profile Silicon Valley investor has resigned from the board of the Salesforce Foundation, citing a sharp disagreement with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's recent comments supporting President Trump and calling for National Guard troops to be deployed in San Francisco. Ron Conway, a longtime friend of Benioff and a...

MacKenzie Scott Cuts Almost Half Her Amazon Stake

She's given away $20B but is still richer than she was after 2019 divorce from Jeff Bezos

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has cut her Amazon stake by 42% over the past year, according to newly filed regulatory paperwork. The reduction amounts to 58 million shares, worth some $12.6 billion, leaving her with 81.1 million shares in the company. As...

MacKenzie Scott Makes More Hefty Donations

Money goes to historically Black university, preserving Black history

(Newser) - MacKenzie Scott continues to give away her billions , with a new donation benefiting the preservation of Black history and culture, and one going to Morgan State University, a historically Black university. The billionaire philanthropist donated $40 million to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund in her second major gift...

MacKenzie Scott Makes Another Major Gift

Philanthropist's latest goes to UNCF to financially strengthen HBCUs

(Newser) - Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, as the nation's largest private provider of scholarships to minority students works to raise $1 billion to strengthen all 37 of its historically Black colleges and universities. The gift is one of Scott's largest single donations ever, reports...

Philanthropies Pony Up $37M for Public Media

Philanthropic team says it wants to help protect at-risk public TV, radio stations around the US

(Newser) - With public funding to NPR and PBS in the Trump administration's crosshairs , a group of philanthropies has announced it's got nearly $37 million to help keep public media above water, per the Hill . According to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation , one of the organizations involved,...

MrBeast Just Might Be a 'Genius'
MrBeast Just Might
Be a 'Genius'
LONGFORM
Jun 8, 2025 9:02 AM CDT

MrBeast Just Might Be a 'Genius'

Merging viral content, philanthropy, and 'childlike' awe, Jimmy Donaldson is the 'algorithm charmer'

(Newser) - Mark O'Connell doesn't necessarily think Jimmy Donaldson's videos are required viewing or pieces of art. He does see the 27-year-old creator more popularly known as MrBeast, however, as a "genius" of sorts, able to merge his deep knowledge of YouTube with goofy gregariousness, philanthropy, and a...

Gates: I'm Closing Gates Foundation Early

It'll shutter in 2045, though he'll donate most of his billions to it; also, an Elon Musk slam

(Newser) - Bill Gates has just made one of the biggest philanthropic pledges ever, in addition to an announcement about the Gates Foundation on its 25th anniversary. Via the foundation, "I will give away virtually all my wealth ... over the next 20 years to the cause of saving and improving lives...

A Gasp in the Art World: Tate Modern Gets This Painting

The Joan Mitchell masterpiece 'Iva' is described as one of the most important works it has received

(Newser) - Britain's Tate Modern art museum on Thursday revealed a "transformational" donation that its director calls "one of the most important" works it has received, reports the BBC . "Iva," a 20-foot-long triptych by American abstract expressionist Joan Mitchell, was gifted to the museum by philanthropists Jorge...

Billionaire's Mission: End the Nursing Shortage

Financier Bill Conway has pledged $1B to the goal

(Newser) - In 2011, financier Bill Conway announced he would give away $1 billion to create jobs for the poor and asked the public to send him ideas. Most of the 2,500 or so suggestions didn't fly, but several suggested backing bachelor's degree nursing programs "It was along...

Foundation to Increase Giving in Response to Trump 'Crisis'

'Those of us who can do more should do more,' organization's president says

(Newser) - The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will increase its giving over the next two years in response to what it calls a crisis prompted by the Trump administration's freeze on federal foreign aid and the now-suspended freeze on federal grants. "This is a major crisis for...

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