The 5 most generous CEOs world over

Top CEOs and entrepreneurs around the world are known to donate millions and billions of their hard earned cash for well meaning non-profitable ventures like charities.

While the trend is yet to catch up on a large scale in India, Business Insider compiles a list of the most generous corporates across the world:

Bill Gates

One of the most popular humanitarians in the corporate space, Bill and his wife Melinda donated a whopping $30.2 billion or 37% of his net worth to charities. The duo topped the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s list of the 50 most generous donors in the United States of 2014 with their hefty $1.5 billion donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last year.

Warren Buffett

The Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has been in the need for the breathtaking sums he donates to charity. He has donated more than $2.8 billion in 2014.

Buffett is now the fourth richest person in the world with a combined fortune of $64.5 billion. However, he trumps wealthier players in terms of charity work.

Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg is next in line. He has given away $1.5 billion or 4% of his net worth. He and his wife Priscilla Chan were among the country’s biggest donors in 2013 as they parted with nearly $1 billion worth fortunes in company stocks to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

George P. Mitchell

A pioneer in the environment unfriendly way of hydraulic-fracturing for finding natural gas, Mitchell was committed to environmental causes.

He reportedly donated $750 million to his family foundation in 2013 and ranked among the country's most generous givers. The foundation supports environment sustainability and conservation issues. The key aim of the foundation is to ensure that the technology he invented doesn’t harm the environment.

Philip Hampson Knight

Philip Knight, or simply Phil is the co-founder and former CEO of Nike Inc. In 2014 he was ranked as the 43rd richest human in the world. He is worth $ 22.3 billion. He and his wife Penelope reportedly donated around $500 million from their fortunes in 2013.

(Image credit: Indiatimes)