Here’s who’s not on the list of America’s top philanthropists

A version of this article originally appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to high-net-worth investors and consumers. become a member to receive future editions straight to your inbox.

America’s top 50 philanthropists donated $22.4 billion to charities in 2025, according to a report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. latest annual ranking. Media giant Michael Bloomberg continued his leadership Philanthropy 50 donated $4.3 billion for the third year in a row to support the arts, public health and other causes.

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott is conspicuously absent from the rankings. Scott announced on his blog in early December that he had donated approximately $7.2 billion to approximately 225 organizations over the past 12 months. The philanthropic organization Yield Giving has donated more than $26 billion to nonprofits since 2020, according to its website.

Chronicle senior editor Maria Di Mento told Inside Wealth that Scott was excluded because he refused to verify how much his representatives contributed to donor-advised funds, which are popular financial vehicles for charitable giving. Philanthropy 50 counts donations to donor-advised funds, or DAFs, and foundations, but does not include payments from those funds to avoid double counting, Di Mento said.

While Scott has made his donations public, ultra-wealthy philanthropists have become increasingly secretive about their charitable donations, according to Di Mento, who has been working on the rankings for 21 years.

“I think the desire for privacy has increased in recent years because the ultra-rich are under a lot more scrutiny than they used to,” he said. “While I think there has always been resentment towards the ultra-rich, that resentment has grown especially rapidly in recent times.”

He added that philanthropists regularly tell him they fear being pursued by nonprofits eager to raise funds.

“Donors tell me this all the time: When they add their name to a gift, they will be bombarded by major gift donors from other organizations,” he said. “This is a very serious concern. Believe it or not, some of these people don’t have a lot of staff.”

Only 19 members of the Forbes 400 list of America’s richest people made the Philanthropy 50. Elon Musk and Larry Ellison, who were at the top of last year’s Forbes 400 list, are not included in the Chronicle’s ranking, despite their central billionaire status.

Di Mento noted that this rate remained stable even as the country’s richest got richer.

“I think there are two ways to look at it, and they’re both correct,” he said. “I think a lot of the ultra-rich don’t give as much as they could, but on the other hand, there’s no law that says they have to disclose what they give.”

While many members of the Forbes 400 are likely giving away money, the Chronicle often requires billionaires’ cooperation to verify how much they’re giving away or to whom they’re giving it away. Musk, for example, disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had gifted approximately $210,000. Tesla’s Approximately $100 million worth of shares were given to “specific charities” in December. Di Mento said the Chronicle could not have included the donation in the list without knowing the recipients and whether they were affiliated with lobbying or political campaigns.

Although Ellison has been on the list in the past, his representatives have not cooperated with the Chronicle in years, according to Di Mento.

Seer The billionaire pledged in 2010 to donate at least 95% of his net worth. Last summer, it changed its commitment to focusing its resources on technology research rather than traditional nonprofits.

“It’s not really clear what he’s giving away or what he’s giving away anymore,” Di Mento said of Ellison.