Buffett is known for being extremely generous with his fortune

Warren Buffett is the world's all-time most generous philanthropist

This list of America's top 25 philanthropists features the "Oracle of Omaha" at the top, as the former Berkshire Hathaway CEO has given away more than $68B—roughly 32% of his total net wealth. Among the country's richest individuals, Mark Zuckerberg is second to Buffett, having donated over $6B of his wealth. Mackenzie Scott, meanwhile, is on a blitz of giving, already departing with almost half of the $30B she received amid her divorce from Jeff Bezos.

The Giving Pledge was a movement started by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates

The Giving Pledge was started to encourage the world’s richest individuals to donate most of their wealth either during their lives or in their wills. Buffett has committed to donating 99% of his money.

Famously frugal Warren Buffett owns a private jet

Buffett still lives in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31.5K. He has pledged to donate 99% of his fortune to charity. Yet he owns a private jet called "The Indispensable" (formerly called "The Indefensible" because he had no defense for buying it).

Warren Buffett plays about 12 hours of bridge a week with Bill Gates

Known for being one of the most frugal billionaires alive, Buffett never spends more than $3.17 on breakfast (opting for either McDonald’s or Oreos). He also has New York Times front pages detailing horrible days on Wall Street hanging on his walls.

Warren Buffett’s investing advice includes never paying too high a price for any investment

Buffett is perhaps the greatest investor of all time, and his investing philosophies are highly regarded and practiced around the world. His advice also includes investing in productive assets (like stocks, bonds, and real estate) and imagining what could go wrong before thinking about how much money you could make.

Warren Buffett retired at the age of 95

Buffett said that he would pull back from his day-to-day role leading Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025. This long-form retrospective on his career paints him as an increasingly unique American role model.

In 2011, President Obama awarded Warren Buffett the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Buffett was awarded the medal for his success as an investor and commitment to philanthropy alongside author Maya Angelou, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Congressman John Lewis, among others. It’s perhaps the highest honor a civilian can receive.

Ray Dalio and his wife signed Warren Buffett's Giving Pledge in 2011

That means Dalio and his wife, Barbara Dalio, committed to donating at least half of their net worth by the time they die. The couple also founded Dalio Philanthropies in 2003, with their main causes including advancing education and investing in ocean protection and research.

Track Warren Buffett’s real-time net worth

Buffett is worth many, many billions of dollars. As a self-made billionaire, he is the eighth-richest man in the world, and his real-time net worth changes daily.

American Express is one of Warren Buffett's top stocks

Buffett's long investment in American Express is indicative of his highly principled investment strategy. Buffett often invested in longstanding businesses with strong core products and services. As of 2025, Buffett owned around 20% of all American Express stock, and his investment in American Express made up around 16% of his portfolio.

Read Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters from 1977 on

Each year, Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder letters are eagerly anticipated by employees and Buffett fans alike. A resource lists every single letter from 1977 and is great for anyone seeking a peek behind the curtain into Buffett’s brain through years of stock market booms and busts.

Reasons the wealthy like to give to universities

Every year, higher education receives the lion’s share of philanthropy for key reasons. Universities have huge budgets and can handle big sums. They also oversee a broad range of initiatives tailored to an individual’s goals, and are particularly credible institutions with long track records and strong brands.

Insurance 'float' is money collected based on insurance’s pay now, collect later model

The insurance “float” has treated Warren Buffett well. The “float” has earned him, and Berkshire Hathaway, billions of dollars. This article includes a letter from Buffett to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in 2009, discussing the impact of the “float” on his long-term success.

Warren Buffett paid a lower effective tax rate than his secretary

While wages and salaries are taxed progressively at rates up to 37%, long-term investments are taxed at lower rates: 0%, 15%, or 20%. For wealthy individuals like Buffett, whose income mainly comes from investments, this means paying a lower effective tax rate than someone earning a salary.

In 2023 and the first half of 2024, Berkshire Hathaway bought back more than $12B of its own stock

In the second half of 2024, the company—and Buffett—decided to buy up shares of Domino’s Pizza, Pool, Sirius XM Holdings, and Liberty Media. They also decided to sell Capital One, Ulta Beauty, and Nu Holdings, among others. Learn why Buffett is buying and selling these stocks and what it could mean for the financial conglomerate.

Nearly half of billionaires plan to increase exposure to direct private equity investments in 2026

In a global survey administered by the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), 49% of billionaires plan to continue investing in companies by providing direct access to capital. However, only 37% of billionaires plan to increase their investments in private equity funds.

In 2019, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman went viral for his on-stage criticism of the event

Speaking directly to an audience of billionaires and CEOs, Bregman broke from Davos norms by challenging elite comfort with inequality, arguing that fair taxation—not philanthropy—was the more honest solution, creating one of the Forum’s most widely shared moments.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Nearly 70% of Muslim Americans always donate to charity during Ramadan

Zakat, one of the core pillars of Islam, directs Muslims to redistribute their wealth and give to the poor. This pillar is commonly honored during Ramadan and likely motivated by the practice of fasting, which encourages gratitude and compassion for those who are less fortunate. Other spikes in charitable giving are seen during the holiday of Eid al-Adha and at the end of the financial year.

Benjamin Franklin donated the books that became the first true public library in the US

In 1778, the town of Franklin, Massachusetts—named in his honor—asked Benjamin Franklin for a bell, but he donated a book collection instead, saying "sense" was more important than "sound." Residents voted in 1790 to make the books freely available to all, creating the nation's first public library.

How tax breaks power the PGA Tour, a nonprofit organization

When the PGA was formed in 1916, its primary objective was to grow the game of golf, so it was established as a nonprofit. When the PGA Tour split off in 1968, that nonprofit status stayed. But as revenue jumped past $1B, questions began to arise. This "Outside the Lines" investigation from 2013 dives into their tax records and details how much the PGA actually gives to charity.

Roughly 90% of generational wealth dries up by the third generation, epitomized by the phrase 'shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations'

Several factors can influence how wealth is passed down from generation to generation, but some of the main threats are mismanagement, estate taxes, and an expanding family tree.

The story of a bitcoin loophole that gave one man millions

James Parker discovered a glitch in an Australian cryptocurrency exchange that would allow him to cash in credits worth over $20M and make big gifts to his friends. Like most loopholes, the authorities found out, but not before his life was transformed. The first in a six-part series.

'Buffy coats': The 1% of blood that helps fight off disease

When blood is centrifuged, white blood cells and platelets form a layer called the buffy coat between the plasma and red blood cells. This layer makes up less than 1% of blood, but its heightened leukocyte concentration makes it useful for toxicology research.

A list of one guy's hundreds of fortune cookie fortunes

Simple idea: Eat lots of Chinese food, collect wisdom in the form of fortunes. Josh Madison held onto hundreds of these and lists them here, noting the ones he received more than once with a number.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Expert says 90% of lottery winners take a lump sum vs. an annuity

However, a lawyer specializing in lotteries told CNBC that lottery winners should opt for an annuity instead. Lump sums are immediately slashed in half, and while both options are taxed, there are ways to minimize the taxes owed on annuity payouts.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

How the most famous Ebola book, The Hot Zone, which sold 3.5 million copies and was translated into 30 languages, got aspects of the disease so wrong.