A billionaire power couple from Texas were so generous in giving away much of their well-earned fortune that they were stripped of their Forbes title as America’s highest earners.
Forbes’ 400 richest US citizens managed to surpass expectations this year, with a record total wealth of $6.6 trillion compared to $1.2 trillion in 2024.
Of those high earners, their collective charitable giving was found to be just 4.6 percent of their net worth dropped down from five percent last year.
However, one couple in Houston stood out from the crowd – and even managed to boot themselves from the exclusive list – for their philanthropic endeavors.
Laura, 53, and John Arnold, 51, gave away more than $2 billion, equaling more than 40 percent of their net worth of around $2.9 billion, as of December 2024, according to Forbes.
In Forbes’s analysis of wealthy Americans’ philanthropic habits, the Arnold duo managed to keep their score despite not appearing of the Forbes 400 list this year.
The couple, who earned their place on the exclusive list in 2023, retained their philanthropic score of five.
A score from one to five signifies the percentage of a billionaire’s net worth that was given away, one being less than one percent and five being more than 20 percent.
‘Their giving is data-driven and guided by evidence-based programs shown to have positive societal outcomes,’ Forbes wrote.
Arnold was crowned by Forbes as a successful energy trader who once earnt Enron $750 million the year it went bankrupt. He also built his own hedge fund, Centaurus Advisors, from the ground up to focus on philanthropy with his wife.
Arnold also invested in solar farms and deep-water oil developments in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Arnold duoi’s philanthropic endeavors notably focused on education and criminal justice reform, Forbes reported.
In 2010, the couple signed the Giving Pledge, which encourages the world’s wealthiest people to pledge to give a good portion of their wealth to charitable causes in their life or in their wills.
At the time, the Arnold’s said they were ‘deeply indebted’ to their community and country for the ‘many opportunities granted’ to them, as well as for their social and economic environment.
‘We consider it our responsibility to ensure the same opportunities for others,’ they wrote, the outlet reported.
About three-quarters of those on the Forbes 400 gave away less than five percent of their net worth this year.
Around forty percent gave away less than one percent – including the world’s wealthiest person Tesla billionaire Elon Musk with a net worth of $428 billion.
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel and basketball icon Michael Jordon were also among those listed as having received a score of one.
Those who received a score of two included Meta cofounder Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Bezos’ ex-wife, Mackenzie Scott, ranked third as the most generous after giving away 36 percent of her wealth through ‘rapid-fire donations’ of Amazon shares she received from her 2019 divorce from Bezos.
Hedge fund tycoon George Soros claimed his title as the most generous giver relative to his net worth for the sixth year in a row.
Soros gave more than 75 percent of his wealth through his Open Society Foundations, according to Forbes.
Open Society Foundations back global humanitarian aid, civic engagement and the safeguarding of individual freedoms.
Lynn Schusterman, the widow of billionaire Charles Schusterman, came in as the second most philanthropic person. Schusterman gave away more than 45 percent of fortune to education, criminal justice reform and providing essential resources in Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to the outlet.
Warren Buffet, however, was crowned as the most generous donator to charity in terms of dollars after surpassing $64.8 billion donated in his lifetime. Much of the donations were made through annual gifts to the Gates Foundation and four Buffett-family foundations.
Buffett vowed to give more than 99 percent of his wealth, yet with climbing stock he is only around a third of the way to reach his goal.
Of those on the Forbes 400, only eleven achieved a score of five; Edythe Broad, Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates, Reed Hastings, Amos Hostetter Jr., Dustin Moskovitz, Lynn Schusterman, MacKenzie Scott, Marilyn Simons and George Soros.
