Leading the pack: Warren Buffett, whose annual summer gift of Berkshire Hathaway stock topped $4.1 billion this year. The funds, as usual, went to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—where they are being put to work on poverty and healthcare initiatives, including research and vaccines for Covid-19—plus to foundations set up by his late wife and three children.

Not far behind (and maybe even ahead): MacKenzie Scott, whose shoestring operation—she has no foundation and gives her wealth away in stealth—donated $5.8 billion to 500 different groups across the country in 2020. Last year, she continued giving her fortune away faster than any billionaire ever, announcing in June another $2.7 billion in gifts to 286 “high-impact” groups such as the Children’s Defense Fund and the National Council of Nonprofits—pushing her estimated lifetime donations above $8.6 billion. Then, in December, Scott published a Medium post mentioning that she’d made another round of gifts—but provided no details on who got the grants or how much she doled out. She quickly clarified that she would share details about the gifts “in the year to come.” In the meantime, Forbes is only crediting her with her known, public donations.