Nearly every person within the first 10 of the world’s highest net-worth individuals has a foundation in their name. These examples of philanthropy are often staples to a financier’s portfolio as reinvestment of wealth back into the nation or communities that helped fund his or her growth. In that sense, philanthropy is also a way to promote one’s image and associate one’s brand with a cause. Many investors have chosen to reinvest their wealth into the countries which groomed them such as Carlos Slim Helú and Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, but there are many people who have started foundations that reach beyond borders to better those who are worse off. Several billionaires’ projects are actively changing downtrodden communities by eliminating hunger, eradicating malaria and bringing access to education and sanitation in otherwise distraught regions. Here are five billionaires’ projects that have changed the world.

5 Billionaires’ Projects that Have Changed the World

1. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Former CEO of Microsoft and his wife, Bill and Melinda Gates, started The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1997. The goal of the organization is to make the world a better place by investing in research and actions that negate issues plaguing impoverished countries. Best known for its efforts to annihilate polio in India and malaria globally, other fiscal investments include refugee care, female education and economic invigoration (mobile money accounts). The foundation has a focus on sustainable change which in turn builds on itself to make a brighter future for the globe with a total investment of $3.9 million in global programs in 2018.
2. Students Rebuild (Bezos Family Foundation): Jeff Bezos­—the well-known Amazon CEO—had the greatest global net worth for 2018 and 2019, surpassing Bill Gates. Although the Bezos Family Foundation primarily caters to local U.S. concerns relating to education, its Students Rebuild program takes a more global focus, involving students from all over the world to help solve planet-wide problems. Each year, the Bezos Family Foundation pledges a gift to a particular charity in response to a form of art shared by participants, usually K-12 students. In 2019, it raised money and awareness for world hunger by asking kids to submit creatively presented recipes. Students Rebuild is an organization that brings kids into today’s problems while helping fund the action-makers who are bringing about change.
3. Bloomberg Philanthropies: Michael Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City and a democratic presidential nominee, but he did not earn his billions through public service. As a founder and primary funder of Bloomberg LP in 1981, he earned billions of dollars through his financial data-services firm. The Bloomberg family started Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has a diverse profile of charitable investments, ranging from environmental overhauls to global health. Bloomberg’s global impact focuses on data collection and management. Its investments primarily go into the education and growth of a field, working in over 480 cities in 120 countries. Previously, Bloomberg partnered with the King Baudouin Foundation to create Equal Footing, an online portal that tracks philanthropy efforts in Africa. Currently, it is reinvesting $120 million over the next four years to expand and intensify its data for health initiative.
4. Larry Ellison Foundation: Larry Ellison is a technology entrepreneur who co-founded the software firm Oracle in 1977. The Larry Ellison Foundation manages financials regarding education, agriculture and global conservation efforts. Previous investments were targeted towards polio eradication and currently center around wildlife conservation and agricultural sustainability. For example, the Larry Ellison Foundation financed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which reaches over 100 million children in 72 countries per year after beginning in 2013. Larry Ellison is currently supporting the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change in Africa and has been since 2012. This institute works with governing bodies and leading reformers in several African countries to create sustainable change across Africa.
5. Howard G. Buffet Foundation: Howard G. Buffet is the son of Warren Buffet, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Beginning in 1999, the Howard G. Buffet Foundation hopes to help jump-start change locally and globally in three focus areas: food security, conflict mitigation and public safety. Although these issues all overlap depending on the region of focus, by investing in research and implementation, this billionaire project incentivizes a strong basis for growth to develop from. Unlike the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The Howard G. Buffet foundation’s foreign focus lie in the western hemisphere, primarily in Columbia and Mexico. Focusing on these areas in part aims to reduce mass migration from these southern countries to the U.S. The Buffet foundation relies on the values of individual rights, community ties and equality which leads to government-aided investment in small-holder farms and sustainable practices developed on American soil. In 2018, the Howard F Buffet Foundation invested a total of $11 million in all program sectors.

There are several billionaires’ projects that have changed the world up to this point as they have aided in the near eradication of polio, rigorously kicked malaria into surrender and implemented millions of research projects to bring the world closer to eliminating global strife. As these groups continue to grow and invest, one can expect that great positive change can occur.

 – Kayla Brown
Photo: Flickr