Worth Magazine
Dec. 2002
Worth Magazine (excerpt): Successful in their prime, they’ve made giving their highest priority.
Worth’s staff surveyed hundreds of individuals and nonprofit organizations to come up with our list of the most generous young Americans. If we were simply looking for those who gave the most money (see list), the task would have been easy. But generosity also means giving time, having compassion, and being willing to devote creative energy to endeavors that don’t bring personal fame or fortune.
The 25 people who made our list are all 45 or younger, and that is especially meaningful. In the world of philanthropy, significant giving often doesn’t begin until the best days of a person’s career are past. Not so here. The stories that follow show people giving in their prime, expending energy that could easily be used elsewhere. We’re sure none of them regret it.
The Berbers
A Glimmer of Hope Foundation: Bringing Aid to Ethiopia
In 1995, Philip Berber, 44, started CyBerCorp, one of the first online trading firms for retail investors. Five years later, he sold the company to Charles Schwab for a cool $488 million. As the deal was signed, Philip’s wife, Donna, 43, was visiting the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington D.C. She had been exploring ways to help the needy and was especially intrigued by the problems in Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in the world. That same month, the Berbers founded A Glimmer of Hope Foundation, endowing it with $100 million. (The stock market decline has since devalued the endowment to about $55 million) The foundation focuses its efforts on Ethiopia, where it now backs 141 projects in five categories: water, health, education, agriculture/veterinary, and HIV/AIDS. The Berbers make frequent trips to the country, where, Philip reports, the Ethiopians “found us odd. They were surprised that we were so young.” The Ethiopians were equally amazed that their rich benefactors were themselves journeying to the tiny villages to see how the projects were faring. Nothing, Philip says, can beat hearing the villagers “laugh with delight when you turn on a tap of potable water for the first time.” A Glimmer of Hope has committed $4.6 million to Ethiopia for 2002 and spent another $1 million on programs for underprivileged youths in the United Kingdom. The Berbers have also donated $2.3 million to such causes as the 9/11 Fund; the later Mother Teresa’s operation in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and the business school at Philip’s alma mater, the University of Dublin.
The Top 10 Givers by Dollars
Giving time and energy makes a substantial impact, but the almighty dollar is still pretty powerful. These 10 individuals and couples stand out for giving a lot of money at a young age (though not all made our main list). Due to the private nature of giving, we relied on the donors’ self-reporting for some of the figures.
1) Melinda Gates: She’s not the creator of the Gates fortune, but as co-founder of the $24 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she has more financial clout than anyone else under the age of 45.
2) Jeffrey Skoll: Skoll honed his philanthropy skills by creating the eBay Foundation. Today his private foundation is among the largest in the nation. He has personally donated more than $163 million.
3) Pierre and Pamela Omidyar: Pierre has said he hopes to give away 99 percent of their money. They’d better get to work: They’ve given about $150 million, just a fraction of their estimated $4.4 billion net worth.
4) Philip and Donna Berber: They pledged $100 million in Schwab stock to the A Glimmer of Hope Foundation when Schwab purchased Philip’s company, CyBerCorp. So far, the foundation has awarded $5.5 million.
5) Steven and Michele Kirsch: As a percentage of their net worth, the Kirsches’ charitable giving is remarkable. They have donated $55 million, about a quarter of their net worth.
6) Debbi Brainerd: Along with husband Paul, Brainerd has spent the past five years and $26 million creating her nonprofit natural-education center, IslandWood, on Washington’s Bainbridge Island.
7) Christopher Klaus: He dropped out of Georgia Institute of Technology at 19, but by age 27, the found of Internet Security Systems had made enough to donate $15 million to his would-be alma mater.
8) Pehong Chen: The founder and CEO of BroadVision gave $15 million to Stanford’s Linear Accelerator Center for a particle astrophysics and cosmology institute. His brother is a SLAC physicist.
9) Gary and Laura Lauder: They are as generous with their money as they are with their Rolodex. The couple has donated more than $4 million and has earmarked $5 million to give in the next five years.
10) Eric Greenberg: The founder of tech companies Scient, Viant, and 12 Entrepreneuring has given more than $6 million – including $5.4 million for U.C. San Francisco’s human genetics program.