Heal the World Whopping US$106B to Charity Impressive-Joe Issa

Jamaican businessman and philanthropist Joe Issa has hailed the top 20 philanthropists in the world for the whopping US$106 billion given to charities, stating the world is a better place to live because of their generosity.

“I read the article and was impressed by the enormous amount of money given by the top 20 philanthropists in the world for charitable causes. Of course, I was disappointed in not making the list,” Issa said jokingly, in an interview.

He said while he was impressed by all the contributions, “I was particularly impressed by the mammoth contributions of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates,” who are among the world’s wealthiest men.

Issa, himself, is no ‘spring chicken’ when it comes to philanthropy, having founded several charities to give back to society. He was still attending university " London School of Economics (LSE) in the United Kingdom " when he famously founded his first charity, Educate the Children Fund, to buy books for Jamaican and Caribbean under-privileged schools.

Issa is said to have given scholarships to bright, underprivileged children to study at his alma mater university in the United States " College of the Holy Cross. The scholarships were said to be costing him some J$500,000 a month, in addition to other contributions by his Cool Charities subsidiary.

According to research by Wealth-X, the top twenty philanthropists who have given out a total of US$106.8 billion to charity is led by Bill Gates, who has so far donated US$27 billion of his wealth.

Gates, who is a co-founder of the world’s largest software company Microsoft, is said to spend most of his time now managing philanthropic projects under the umbrella of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated many computers to the Jamaica Library Service to help spread internet access across the country.

In second place was Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He has so far donated US$21.5 billion to charities. In 2006, he pledged to donate 85% of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and to other foundations set up by family members.

Hungarian George Soros nicknamed the man who broke the Bank of England by selling short 10 billion pounds and making a billion pound in profit was third. This is said to have happened during the 1992 Black Wednesday UK currency crisis. He has donated $8 billion to health, education, community development and social services.

Behind Azim Premji was Charles Francis Feeney at number five. Feeney often called the “James Bond” of philanthropy, is said to be determined to give away his entire fortune made as co-founder of the Duty-Free Shoppers Group. He has already donated US$6.3 billion to health, education, science, and civil rights across several countries, including the US, Vietnam, and Bermuda, said Wealth-X.

Carlos Slim one of the three wealthiest self-made billionaires in the world has so far given US$4 billion. He was No. 8, while George Kaiser with US$3.3 billion donated so far for education, health, and community development was No. 10. 

At No. 11 was Michael Bloomberg co-founder of Microsoft with Bill Gates. He has given US$3 billion to charity for health.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the world was at No. 13. He has donated $1.6 billion to philanthropic causes. Last year he disbursed US$25 million to help fight Ebola, a fight on which Issa commented, about Jamaica’s readiness at the time.

Jon Huntsman Sr. founder of Huntsman Chemical Corporation, the most significant polystyrene manufacturer in the United States, used widely including as burger containers, has given away US$1.2 billion for cancer research. He was placed at No. 15.

The last spot in the top 20 was occupied by Dietmar Hopp, a German IT entrepreneur who co-founded SAP, the famous software company. He has donated US$1 billion to support local education, sports and health causes in his hometown. He is said to worth US$6.3 billion.