philanthropists

The biggest U.S. charities saw the sharpest decline in donations in 20 years in 2009, with donations down by an average of 11%, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Sponsored Links Only four of the top 10 saw contributions rise last year. They were Catholic Charities USA, the AmeriCares...

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are scheduled to dine with Chinese businessmen Wednesday in a bid to promote philanthropy in the world's second-largest economy. Sponsored Links The dinner will be held at a mansion, modeled after the baroque 17th century Chateau de Maisons-Laffitte in France, on the...

George Soros, billionaire investor and philanthropist, is donating $100 million to Human Rights Watch in his largest ever gift. Soros will announce the gift later today, The New York Times reported. It will be by far the largest gift that Human Rights Watch has ever received....

Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Paul Allen plans to give away most of his $13.5 billion fortune. In a statement, Allen said that his "philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime," The Wall Street Journal reported. Allen co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975. He left the company in...

Some have said baseball holds the answers to life's mysteries. But Google (GOOG) co-founder Sergey Brin seemed baffled by John Battelle's baseball metaphor during Brin's "surprise" visit to the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco last week. Battelle mentioned the oft-heard complaint that Google is...