Jamsetji Tata world’s top philanthropist in 100 years, two Indians in top 50. Here's the list

Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, often referred to Jamsetji Tata as the ‘one-man planning commission’.

Indian pioneer industrialist Jamsetji Tata has been named the world’s top philanthropist of the last 100 years, as per a report prepared by Hurun Research and EdelGive Foundation. Jamsetji Tata, who is regarded as the “Father of Indian Industry”, donated $102.4 billion, emerging as the top philanthropist of the century, ahead of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates.

Jamsetji Tata, who is regarded as the “Father of Indian Industry”, donated $102.4 billion, emerging as the top philanthropist of the century. (Twitter / @TataCompanies)

“Whilst American and European philanthropists may have dominated the thinking of philanthropy over the last century, Jamsetji Tata, founder of India’s Tata Group, is the world’s biggest philanthropist,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, said in a statement.

According to the report, the total philanthropic value of Jamsetji Tata is made up of 66% of Tata Sons, solely based on the value of listed entities. Born in 1839 in Navsari, a city in south Gujarat, Tata made his fortune in the 1870s after floating the Central India Spinning Weaving and Manufacturing Company. He set up the JN Tata Endowment in 1892 for higher education, which was the beginning of Tata Trusts.

Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, often referred to him as the ‘one-man planning commission’.

With total donations of $74.6 billion, Bill Gates and his now-estranged wife Melinda French Gates are second on the list of top philanthropists of the century. The duo will remain co-chairs and trustees of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with ‘no changes’ to their roles or the organization. Other philanthropists on the list include UK’s Henry Wellcome, Howard Hughes, Warren Buffett, and George Soros.

The only other Indian on the list is Azim Premji, founder chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji is often called the Czar of the Indian IT Industry. Since 2010, Premji has transferred 67% of Wipro to the Azim Premji Endowment fund. The Azim Premji Foundation together with Wipro has donated $150 million for combating coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Here’s the list top 50 philanthropists of the last 100 years:

1. Jamsetji Tata

2. Bill & Melinda Gates

3. Henry Wellcome

4. Howard Hughes

5. Warren Buffett

6. George Soros

7. Hans Wilsdorf

8. JK Lilly Sr

9. John D Rockefeller

10. Edsel Ford

11. Robert Wood Johnson II

12. Azim Premji

13. William & Flora Hewlett

14. David Packard

15. J Paul Getty

16. John D. MacArthur

17. Will Keith Kellog

18. Andrew Carnegie

19. Alisa Mellon Bruce & Paul Mellon

20. Sam & Helen Walton

21. Gordon & Betty Moore

22. W. Garfield Weston

23. Michael Bloomberg

24. Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian

25. Margaret A Cargill

26. Conrad Hilton

27. Joseph N. Pew Jr.

28. Harry & Leona Helmsley

29. MacKenzie Scott

30. Chris Hohn & Jamie Cooper

31. James Buchanan Duke

32. Ma Huateng

33. S. S. Kresge

34. Jim Simons

35. Charles Stewart Mott

36. Ma Yun

37. Eli Broad

38. Robert Winship Woodruff

39. John Templeton

40. Jeffry M. Picower & Barbara Picower

41. William Hesketh Lever

42. Harry Weinberg

43. James Harvey Irvine Sr

44. John Knight & James Knight

45. William Lewis Moody, Jr.

46. Ewing Marion Kauffman

47. Li Ka-shing

48. Isaac Wolfson

49. Jesse H. Jones

50. Michael & Susan Dell